KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 12 — Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's sick leave has been extended for another two days, as he is still on painkillers and undergoing treatment in the hospital for his right knee's pain.

Because Najib is unable to attend his own 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) trial over 1MDB's RM2.2 billion of funds, the trial also cannot go on for the rest of this week. The trial had already been postponed earlier this week for the same reason.

Today, Hospital Kuala Lumpur's Department of Orthopaedics & Traumatology head Dr. Siti Hawa Tahir told the High Court that she had issued an extension of Najib's sick leave for another two days, namely for today and tomorrow.

Dr Siti Hawa said Najib's acute inflammation in his right knee is a condition that usually requires day-to-day evaluation, and that the assessment yesterday showed that he needs two more days of rest.

"Rest means he has to rest the joint. Resting the joint means minimum movement if possible, but at the same time we also want him to move a bit to minimise other complications. And this so-called acute inflammation, as I mentioned, it doesn't take two days. we expect it might last for a few days," she said.

Dr Siti Hawa said Najib is also still being given painkillers in the form of opioids, which can reduce his knee pain but give off side effects.

"And as I mentioned earlier last time, we had to start him on opioids, and the fact that he is on opioids, he has developed some of the side-effects which are drowsiness that he seemed to have, and nausea.

"The fact that he has sleep apnoea, it is a condition when you have breathing problems during sleep because of obstruction, that is a concern for all of us because he needs to be closely monitored," she said.

Dr Siti Hawa said the hospital has started to taper down or gradually reduce the dosage of painkillers as Najib's pain has improved, with the hope that he would be able to tolerate the pain when he starts physiotherapy. She said the hospital wants Najib to start walking using a walking aid to maintain his muscle strength to prevent future problems to the knee, but that the walking is not intended to over-exert him.

Asked by deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib, Dr Siti Hawa confirmed Najib is not fit to attend the 1MDB trial today and tomorrow.

Najib's lead defence lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah then said he had visited Najib yesterday, and claimed that Najib was not paying total attention in a conversation as usual and claimed the latter had said he had fell asleep after just reading two pages of a "very engaging book". Dr Siti Hawa agreed that both situations would be a side-effect of being on opioids.

Dr Siti Hawa also agreed with Shafee that being on opioids meant that a patient who has sleep apnoea is at risk of not breathing at all unless he is being monitored in the controlled environment of a hospital, also agreeing that such controlled environment would not be possible if Najib was to appear in court.

Dr Siti Hawa agreed with Shafee that the additional two-day sick leave to Najib was issued after the medical team at the hospital assessed his condition and decided that he is not fit to attend the court for these two days.

Asked by Judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah, Dr Siti Hawa said Najib is resting his joints by resting on the bed most of the time, and said Najib claims to experience drowsiness but is able to understand and convey his symptoms and feelings to the medical team.

But if Najib has to attend court while still being on opioid treatment, Dr Siti Hawa said a psychiatrist would have to assess his mental state first before he comes to court.

She said the medical team is just giving opioids to Najib when necessary today and said there could be a need to restart the treatment if the pain resurges, and said whether or not Najib is given opioids tomorrow depends on whether he can tolerate the pain while being on medication.

She said Najib might still suffer from opioid side effects tomorrow, also saying that psychiatric assessment would be needed first even if he is not suffering from such side-effects tomorrow as the drug would take several hours to clear from the blood.

On Tuesday, Dr Siti Hawa also explained that a medical team would have to be on standby at the hospital usually whenever a patient is on opioids and also said Najib is not fully mentally alert.

Najib's 1MDB trial is scheduled to resume on Tuesday next week.

https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2024/09/12/hospitalised-najib-still-on-mc-for-knee-pain-1mdb-trial-postponed-again-for-two-more-days/150165/dw