04
August 2003, Eversheds’
associated firm Khattar Wong has announced that it advised Raffles
Hospital on the recent operation to separate the Iranian conjoined twins
Laleh and Laden Bijani.
The
work of the firm’s biosciences group was also used on a successful
separation performed shortly afterwards on conjoined twins from Korea,
demonstrating the need for innovative legal frameworks when dealing in
uncharted medical territory.
Khattar
Wong acted for the Singapore hospital and the medical team on a number
of complex legal issues, including the drafting of the Informed Consents
documents and the indemnities for the foreign and visiting surgeons and
doctors who participated in the operation.
The
legal team, headed by Leslie Chew
SC and comprising Audrey Chiang
and Wun Rizwi, also advised on a directive requested
by the patients in the event one or both of them fell into a vegetative
state as a result of the surgery, to be used if necessary in a court
application to withhold any extraordinary measures to keep them alive.
Leslie
Chew comments: “In addition to the complex documentation around
the surgery itself, we also drafted confidentiality and filming rights
agreements, to be used around the recording of the operation for
educational or research purposes.
“Although
the first operation was unfortunately not a success, the use of our work
for the separation of the Korean twins shows the importance of the legal
implications around this form of surgery.
Just as the doctors are treading new ground in the practice of
biosciences, law firms are having to come up with new methods of
handling the associated legal issues.”
ENDS
For further information please contact:
Anil
Haji / Kirsty Marshall
Republic
T:
020 7379 5000
F:
020 7379 5111
E:
anil@republicpr.com
Notes to editors
Eversheds
LLP has over 2,000 legal and business advisers providing services to the
private and public sector business and finance community. Access to all
these services is provided through our network of international offices.
Eversheds combines local market knowledge and access with the
specialisms, resources and international capability of one of the
world's largest law firms.
