Anwar requests hospital for back surgery
Ajinder KaurPublished: Jan 10, 2001 10:09 AM | Updated: Jan 29, 2008 6:21 PM
updated version Jailed former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim, who has been warded at the Kuala Lumpur General Hospital (KLGH) for the past one month for a back injury, has agreed to undergo surgery to treat his condition.
In a letter sent to the director of the KLGH, his lawyer Sankara Nair said that Anwar and his family have agreed that surgery is now inevitable since there has been no significant improvement in Anwar's condition despite four weeks of treatment.
Anwar is specifically seeking to undergo an endoscopic micro-spinal surgical operation as recommended by several foreign and local specialists.
The specialists include Tawakal Hospital neurosurgeon Dr Halili Rahmat, Beaumont Hospital (Dublin) neurosurgeon Dr Ciaran Bolger and St May's Hospital (Texas) neurosurgeon Dr Beck.
They have stressed that the stated surgical method was most recommended as it did not require open surgery thus minimizing risks when compared to conventional surgical methods.
Prepared to pay
According to Sankara, Anwar was prepared to bear the cost for the surgery if it could not be borne by the government.
"We emphasise that Dato Seri Anwar bin Ibrahim, like any other patient under your care, should not be denied his legitimate right to obtain the medical treatment and surgical method of his choice. Indeed it is his legal right," he said in the letter to the KLGH.
Anwar, who is serving a 15-year jail term for corruption and sodomy, was admitted to the hospital on Nov 24 after doctors confirmed that he was suffering from a "prolapse of the disc with severe compression of the nerve root" (slipped disc).
He has been undergoing comprehensive physiotherapy, but the treatment has been limited in effectiveness apart form easing the pain.
The national news agency Bernama had last week quoted his wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail as saying that her husband did not require surgery for his injury.
Sankara, however, refuted the report, saying that Wan Azizah had been misquoted.
"She did not say that Anwar didn't require surgery. It was only a question of when," he told malaysiakini when contacted.
In a letter sent to the director of the KLGH, his lawyer Sankara Nair said that Anwar and his family have agreed that surgery is now inevitable since there has been no significant improvement in Anwar's condition despite four weeks of treatment.
Anwar is specifically seeking to undergo an endoscopic micro-spinal surgical operation as recommended by several foreign and local specialists.
The specialists include Tawakal Hospital neurosurgeon Dr Halili Rahmat, Beaumont Hospital (Dublin) neurosurgeon Dr Ciaran Bolger and St May's Hospital (Texas) neurosurgeon Dr Beck.
They have stressed that the stated surgical method was most recommended as it did not require open surgery thus minimizing risks when compared to conventional surgical methods.
Prepared to pay
According to Sankara, Anwar was prepared to bear the cost for the surgery if it could not be borne by the government.
"We emphasise that Dato Seri Anwar bin Ibrahim, like any other patient under your care, should not be denied his legitimate right to obtain the medical treatment and surgical method of his choice. Indeed it is his legal right," he said in the letter to the KLGH.
Anwar, who is serving a 15-year jail term for corruption and sodomy, was admitted to the hospital on Nov 24 after doctors confirmed that he was suffering from a "prolapse of the disc with severe compression of the nerve root" (slipped disc).
He has been undergoing comprehensive physiotherapy, but the treatment has been limited in effectiveness apart form easing the pain.
The national news agency Bernama had last week quoted his wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail as saying that her husband did not require surgery for his injury.
Sankara, however, refuted the report, saying that Wan Azizah had been misquoted.
"She did not say that Anwar didn't require surgery. It was only a question of when," he told malaysiakini when contacted.
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