A public doctor mistakenly created a hole in the heart of a newborn baby two decades ago that was not fixed until 12 years later, a court was told yesterday.
Admitting the blunder for the first time, as the hearing on a HK$8 million compensation claim began, government lawyers said Dr Rita Sung Yn-tz, then a paediatric cardiologist at the Prince of Wales Hospital, had made a 'substandard' diagnosis out of negligence.
'The misdiagnosis that resulted in the heart operation was substandard and hence negligent,' lawyer Patrick Lam, representing the Secretary for Food and Health, said.
Fung Chun-man, 21, now an undergraduate student in engineering at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, is claiming up to HK$8 million in compensation for his suffering, loss of future income and medical expenses.
The medical blunder left Fung with a heart condition called atrial septal defect, a hole in the wall between the upper heart chambers.
Despite being in the prime of his youth, Fung had a weak body with physical fitness similar to that of a 50-year-old man, the court heard.