Consent needed

Court: Surgeons must get consent to take photos of intimate parts

By PRISCILLA DIELENBERG

GEORGE TOWN: Surgeons must obtain their female patients' consent before taking photos of their intimate parts, a Penang High Court ruled Thursday.

Judicial Commissioner Chew Soo Ho awarded freelance writer Lee Ewe Poh, 50, RM25,000 in damages for invasion of privacy and RM10,000 in costs.

Lee, a former journalist, had filed the suit against general and colo-rectal surgeon Dr Lim Teik Mau saying she felt violated after he took photographs of her private parts during a haemorrhoids surgery.

She named Dr Lim and Loh Guan Lye & Sons Sdn Bhd as defendants in her suit for trespass against her person.

Lee said she underwent a procedure known as stapler haemorrhoidectomy at the Loh Guan Lye Specialists Centre here on Dec 21, 2006, and found out from a nurse six days later that Dr Lim had photographed her private parts.

She said that when she confronted Dr Lim, he was initially evasive but later admitted taking the photographs and qualified it by saying that he did it for medical purposes.

Counsel K. Simon Murali acted for the plaintiff, while T. Sagadaven and Ramsun Ho represented Dr Lim and the hospital respectively.

StarOnline
2nd September 2010