FAC News - Thursday, April 3, 2003 7:51 AM

Can Anwar get ‘safe’ medical treatment in Malaysia?

In a couple of days, Malaysia’s Attorney-General is going to file an Affidavit to say that Anwar Ibrahim need not be granted bail on 14 April 2003. He is not going to say that Anwar does not deserve bail, or that he is not entitled to it, or that the law does not provide for it. He is going to say that Anwar need not be granted bail because he can obtain the back surgery he needs right here in Malaysia.

Then they are going to splash all over the media how the Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, had his heart operation done in Malaysia. He did not need to go to Germany to have it done! So what’s a ‘simple’ back operation? That too can be done in Malaysia.

However, in all this propaganda, they will be leaving out some very crucial points.

On the part about Dr Mahathir having his heart operation done in Malaysia; they had no choice. Mahathir was knocking on death’s door and the doctors said moving him would mean sending him to his grave. If they sent him overseas, he would die on the way. So they had to perform an emergency operation right then and there.

But does this mean there are no dangers if one was to have a ‘complicating’ operation performed in Malaysia? It all depends. One very prominent businessman had a simple sinus operation done locally because his second-wife-to-be complained he snored and she was not about to tie the knot until he cured himself of it.

The unfortunate millionaire - who actually owned the hospital, mind you - died even before he could be wheeled into the operating theatre. He died while under anaesthesia.

How, therefore, does one reconcile this? Will the government be able to guarantee, 100%, Anwar’s safety?

Leading surgeons and specialists - doctors from the government hospital - have said that Anwar WILL NOT get a 100% guarantee if he gets his back surgery done in Malaysia. Maybe 70% to 90%; but not 100%. The Alpha Klinik in Germany offers a 99% plus guarantee. They have done thousands of back surgeries through the years and their track record speaks for itself.

The ‘latest’ procedure that Malaysia is offering Anwar has NEVER been performed before. Anwar will be its first victim…oops, I mean…patient. Anwar will be their guinea pig. If Anwar’s operation is a success, and, being the only patient they have ever had, then they can claim a 100% success rate.

But success or failure is not only dependent on the skills of the doctor. It is also dependent on the sincerity of the institution that you have entrusted yourself to.

When Anwar first did his MRI scan two years ago, they immediately destroyed all X-Ray records and said that it was ‘normal’ hospital practice. ‘Normal’? Since when do hospitals destroy a patient’s records while the patient is still under treatment and before the said patient could even be discharged from hospital and given a clean bill of health?

While the hospital, and a government one at that, tried to brush the incident off as ‘normal’, the doctors in that same hospital said this was quite extraordinary and something they have never done before. This must have been a ‘special case’ because it involved Anwar Ibrahim.

Right from the word ‘go’, the hospital demonstrated how devious it was. When Anwar sent the hospital a legal letter and threatened to sue them, they quickly redid the X-Ray and, this time, even gave Anwar a copy which he then sent to Germany.

That was why they destroyed the X-Ray records. They did not want it to leave the country where proper doctors would get to see it. And the German doctors were alarmed when they saw the X-Rays.

Then, before that, there was Anwar’s suspected Arsenic poisoning.

In this incident, Anwar’s blood, hair and nail samples were smuggled out of Malaysia and sent to the Melbourne Coroner’s office for testing where it proved, beyond any shadow of doubt, that Anwar had a dangerously high level of Arsenic in his body.

The government then issued a statement saying it is quite normal for persons to have some traces of Arsenic in their body, especially if you were to eat too much prawns and other seafood.

The question everyone asked then was; how often does Anwar run down to the local seafood joint for supper seeing that he cannot even visit the doctor of his choice? It was a preposterous reason the government offered in explaining how the Arsenic got into Anwar’s body.

Anyhow, the testing they did in Melbourne was under an assumed name, and, on top of that, the samples were smuggled into Australia; something illegal. So they had to, the second time around, ‘officially’ send to Australia, through the proper and legal channels, another set of samples; and this time in Anwar Ibrahim’s name.

But, as soon as the authorities found out there was another set of samples about to leave the country – and legally this time, mind you – they swooped in on the courier company’s office and confiscated the samples.

Then, a third set of samples was obtained from Anwar and sent to the government hospital for testing. And, again, the test proved that Anwar still had traces of Arsenic in his body, though it was already a couple of weeks and his body should have flushed out most of it by then.

The fact, the hospital said, it was three weeks since the first test was done, and since Anwar had been hospitalised, yet the level was still that high, this would mean the level must have been excessively high in the beginning, when the first test was done by the Melbourne Coroners’ office.

The hospital then sent their report to the government but it was immediately sent back with instructions to change it. They did not want that damaging report. They wanted another one that said they found no evidence of Arsenic in Anwar’s body.

Reluctantly, the hospital had to redo the report the way they were told to and the new report now said that no evidence was found that Anwar had suffered Arsenic poisoning.

And you want Anwar to trust the local hospital?

It’s not about how clever or stupid local doctors are, as I am sure there are many clever ones in Malaysia. The fact my father died of a heart attack while our family doctor phoned almost every hospital in Kuala Lumpur arguing with them to send an ambulance, which they did not want to, does not make me prejudiced about local hospitals. The fact my niece died of an ‘unknown disease’ that the doctors had no inkling what it was as we stood there watching helplessly while she slipped away does not reduce my confidence in local doctors. It’s just that the authorities have demonstrated Mala Fide too many times when it comes to Anwar Ibrahim that I wonder whether he is safe in Malaysia.

Anwar’s appeal hearing is still ongoing. And, in the appeal hearing, it was proven that the Attorney-General, when he was Anwar’s Chief Prosecutor, used threats of the death sentence on Dato Nallakarupan to get him to implicate Anwar in sex scandals.

Can you imagine the AG threatening to hang someone if he does not slander Anwar? Life is too cheap to this man. He wanted to get Anwar at all costs, even if he had to hang a man to do it.

And this is the same man who will be filing an Affidavit to say it is safe for Anwar to have his back surgery done in Malaysia.

And we are yet to talk about the near-death beating Anwar received at the hands of Malaysia's Chief of Police. I think Saddam Hussein would be safer in the US then Anwar would in a Malaysian hospital.