A plastic surgeon did not stop an operation to remove fat from the abdomen of his elderly patient even though she had started moaning, a coroner was told yesterday.
Piano teacher Lam King-fong, 70, was moaning and kept turning her head from side to side when surgeon Franklin Li Wang-pong was injecting her with anaesthetic on August 28, 2003, according to registered nurse Yip Wai-kuen, who assisted in the operation.
'[After injecting two syringes] Dr Li asked her whether she was in pain; she did not respond but kept moaning,' Ms Yip said.
After Dr Li injected four more syringes, he withdrew the injection tube and inserted a suction tube about 3mm in diameter to continue the operation, she said.
'Dr Li made the movement [of moving the suction tube inside the body to loosen the fat] tens of times ... But after five or six minutes, Dr Li spotted her breathing was very weak.'
The nurse said the patient might not have been in pain even though she was moaning and moving her head. 'Some patients who make the same gestures only try to let out [their feelings] and they may not actually be in pain,' she said.
But Lam's husband, Chiu Cheuk-ming, disagreed. He accused the medical workers of ignoring signs of pain to continue the operation. 'The gestures showed she was in pain at the time and the doctor should have stopped the operation,' Mr Chiu said.