Dead doc’s family not eligible for compensation

Star: KUALA LUMPUR: The family of young Dr Norbaizura Yahaya, who died two weeks after being involved in an ambulance accident, is not eligible for compensation because she was not confirmed in her post.
To ease the burden on her family, the Malaysian Medical Association gave a RM10,000 donation to her clerk father, Yahaya Shahuddin, 50, yesterday.
MMA president Datuk Dr Teoh Siang Chin said her death raised the issue of young doctors being exposed to occupational risks but not eligible for compensation until they are confirmed in their job.
“Confirmation can take up to two years after reporting for duty and during this period the doctor has to carry out all normal duties in hospital as well as accompany patients on emergency transfer.
“Hundreds of such emergency trips take place each day in all the states under varying road and traffic conditions. Even more dramatic are the mercy helicopter flights,” said Dr Teoh.
On Sept 4, Dr Norbaizura was accompanying a patient in an ambulance from the Seremban Hospital to the Selayang Hospital when the vehicle burst a tyre at the expressway near Bangi and landed in a ditch.
Dr Norbaizura, 24, from Sabak Bernam, went into a coma and died last week. She graduated two months earlier.
Her husband Kapt Muhd Pasli Sarman said: “I was told the Health Ministry is investigating the accident but I have not been given any details.”
The army engineer, attached to the Iskandar Army camp in Johor, said they had been married for two years.