Dr Alia Zubaidah Bahtar, who treated 25-year-old K Roopan one day after his admission to the Kajang Hospital in June 2021, testified in the coroner’s court that the CT scan was not necessary as the patient had responded well to treatment.
A D-Dimer test is administered to check if a patient has a blood-clotting disorder.
The court heard that a normal D-Dimer reading would be 0.5, whereas Roopan’s was 17.97.
When suggested by Roopan’s family lawyer, T Shashi Devan, that the abnormal D-Dimer reading alone should have prompted the doctor to perform a CT scan to rule out possible pulmonary embolism (PE), Alia explained: “For CT scans, we have our own policies and flows. During the pandemic, Covid-19 and PE cases were high.
“In an ideal situation, I would have agreed with your suggestion, but there was no justification to order the CT scan at the time.
“There were many cases where the D-Dimer readings were way higher – 200, 300 – but the subsequent CT scan results appeared normal (suggesting no blood clots).”
A PE occurs when a blood clot travels from the leg to the lung and blocks blood flow, which may lead to death.
A pathologist previously testified that Roopan died due to PE.
The court also heard that the identity of the medical officer at the emergency department who ordered the D-Dimer test on Roopan was unknown.
Alia agreed that the inquest proceedings would never know why the D-Dimer test was carried out.
“The analysis would depend on (the medical officer’s) documentation.
“If the D-Dimer test was ordered without documentation under the diagnosis to rule out deep vein thrombosis (blood clot), the indication (test result) is irrelevant as all tests submitted must be related to the diagnosis,” she explained.
Roopan was sent to the hospital on June 17, 2020 after complaining of breathing difficulties. He was discharged three days later.
He died in prison a day later, eight days before the hearing of his appeal in a 2013 murder case.
Roopan’s cellmate, Lee Zen I, testified that the deceased collapsed in their shared cell after having breakfast, but he regained consciousness shortly and sweated profusely.
“Four prison officers came to take him to Block RSD (the prison’s clinic). About 40 minutes later, they came back to inform us that the inmate (Roopan) had died,” Lee said.
The inquest, presided by coroner Rasyihah Ghazali, continues tomorrow.