Kota Kinabalu: The Coroner’s Court on Monday heard that Zara Qairina Mahathir’s treatment records would help determine the source of phenytoin detected in her kidney tissue.
Senior forensic pathologist Datuk Seri Dr Bhupinder Singh Jeswant Singh agreed with counsel Datuk Rizwandean M Borhan that such records could assist in establishing how the drug was present.
Bhupinder said phenytoin could have been administered during treatment to prevent seizures in cases of hypoxic brain damage, or may have been taken before hospital admission.
He told the court it was not his prerogative to request additional medical records and that he relied only on documents provided to him for analysis.
Bhupinder said references in his witness statement to possible prior treatment were intended to assist the court in ruling out sources of the drug and were not suggestions that the deceased had epilepsy.
