Published on: Wednesday, September 24, 2008 |
Kuala Lumpur: A father of an engineering student is fuming mad that a medical card active for RM50,000 issued by an insurance company to his son did not fulfil the obligations under the terms and conditions.
Ponnusamy Chinniah said he is planning to take legal action against the insurance company and its panel of hospitals for the negligent treatment and services extended to his 22-year-old son who suffered a paralysed left arm in a motorcycle accident on May 12.
Ponnusamy said he took a bank guarantee for RM100,000 to admit his son Gunasegaran, a student of Universiti Industri Selangor (UNISEL) to an insurance panel hospital after he was not satisfied with the treatment given by another panel hospital. Earlier, Gunasegaran was treated at a government hospital.
However, when his son's name was found in the records of the panel hospital, admission was rejected immediately.
"Even with money in my hands, I still couldn't admit my son for treatment.
This is the game being played by insurance companies and their panel hospitals," he told a press conference, Monday.
Ponnusamy said he had filed a complaint against the insurance company with Bank Negara as the medical card could not be used to claim for some of the tests done for Gunasegaran.
However, checks by Bank Negara showed the medical card was active for RM50,000.
Ponnusamy's lawyer, Naginder Singh, said he would file legal action against the insurance company and its panel of hospitals soon.
"I am still waiting for some documents and reports on the matter," he said.
Besides the medical card, Ponnusamy alleged that treatment at four panel hospitals was also questionable as specialist doctors had said his son's arm has improved and that a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) test was not necessary.
As his son was still having severe pain in his left arm, Ponnusamy decided to take him to India for treatment.
"I brought him to a hospital in India after reading an article saying that injuries of this nature must be treated within three to six months or the arm cannot be saved," he said.
Ponnusamy said the MRI test done in India showed Gunasegaran's main artery in his left arm has been severed and needed immediate surgery, costing him RM16,000.
After the surgery in India, he said Gunasegaran's condition has improved and he could now move his arm.
"I'm taking my son to India again in November for follow-up treatment," he added.
