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Paralysis After Surgery: Bangladeshi Businessman Sues Top Singapore Surgeon

by DD Staff

June 01, 2024

key takeaways

Lawyers said Noor Alam’s is now wheelchair bound and unable to walk following the operation by James Tan Siah Heng
The hospital, where the patient underwent the surgery, has countersued him over US$739,800 in unpaid bills

A businessman from Bangladesh who traveled to Singapore to receive treatment for a spinal ailment at Gleneagles Hospital is suing his neurosurgeon for damages, claiming that the procedure left him paralyzed.

Since July 2022, Noor Alam, 51, has been hospitalized. Gleneagles has simultaneously filed a lawsuit against him in an attempt to collect payment for the rising debt, which has surpassed S$1 million (US$739,800).

According to court documents, Alam came to Gleneagles in 2019 for specialist medical care from Dr James Tan Siah Heng for neck pain that did not improve with physiotherapy.

According to documents filed by Alam’s lawyers – Raj Singh Shergill and Desiree Koh Jia Min from Lee Shergill law firm – Tan told Alam that he had a prolapsed disc with spinal cord compression.

He advised Alam to undergo surgery to replace the disc, and the operation was completed uneventfully, following which Alam returned to Bangladesh, the court documents filed by Alam’s lawyers state.

However, Alam developed a wound infection which later healed and left behind a skin tag – a benign growth.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, he was able to return to Singapore for a consultation with Tan only in July 2022.