KUALA LUMPUR, May 11 — Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was granted sick leave for the third consecutive day today as he was found to be suffering dehydration from diarrhoea, which means his 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) trial cannot go on today and has been postponed again.
Hospital Kuala Lumpur’s clinical specialist Dr Mohd Fadhli Zil Ikram Karim, who is treating Najib, confirmed that the latter could not be present in court today.
“I did my usual clinical round at approximately 7.20am. I examined Datuk Seri Najib. At that point of time, he complained that he had two episodes of loose stools. We examined him, and he still has diarrhoea.
Dr Fadhli said Najib was found to have stable blood pressure and heart rate this morning, but the latter was found to show signs of dehydration as his oral mucosa was dry.
“For that reason, we deemed he's having a high risk of dehydration and after that will be having a risk of low blood pressure, for that reason we have to keep him in the ward for an IV saline infusion to rehydrate him,” he said.
He added that monitoring also has to be done every two hours or every four hours depending on the situation.
“In my expert opinion, after examining Datuk Seri Najib this morning, he is unfit to attend court, because of the risk of dehydration and need for constant monitoring in hospital as well as an IV drip, which is intravenous saline rehydration,” he told the High Court today.
Dr Mohd Fadhli said he issued a one-day sick leave for Najib after discussing with his superiors regarding Najib's condition.
The doctor agreed with defence lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah that Najib was not fit to be discharged to attend court proceedings when assessed this morning, despite his evaluation yesterday.
The doctor also agreed with Shafee' suggestion that there could be fainting spells, unsteadiness on feet and sitting down if dehydration from diarrhoea is untreated to replace the loss of water and electrolytes.
Judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah then agreed to also vacate today’s trial date.
Earlier this week, the High Court was also unable to hear the 1MDB trial on Tuesday and Wednesday as scheduled, after Najib was given a two-day sick leave for the same ailment.
The trial is scheduled to resume next on June 21, July 7, July 26 and July 27.
