Hospital Kuala Lumpur’s senior orthopaedic consultant, Dr Siti Hawa Tahir, who attended to Najib, told the court she has given him two days’ medical leave as he is receiving treatment for pain in his right knee.

She said the medical team has prescribed “strong” painkillers for him and the medication is making him drowsy.

Asked by trial judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah whether Najib can be brought to court in a wheelchair so he can follow the proceedings, Siti Hawa said he is “not fully alert mentally”.

“We started this (medication) last night and I cannot comment on how long he will (take to) respond to the treatment,” she said.

Sequerah then said he might need Siti Hawa to return to update the court on Najib’s condition on Thursday if his condition persists.

Najib is charged with 25 counts of money laundering and abuse of power over alleged 1MDB funds amounting to RM2.28 billion deposited into his AmBank accounts between February 2011 and December 2014.