Reform of Medical Council needed to restore public confidence after Eugina Lau case: group

A concern group has urged the Medical Council to address its shortcomings and restore public confidence in light of criticism that it has failed to protect patients’ rights.

The council’s problems were highlighted by the case of singer Peter Cheung Shung-tak and his wife, former actress Eugina Lau Mei-kuen, who spent nine years in an uphill battle for justice over the death of their newborn son in 2005.

A spokesman for the Patients’ Rights Association said the couple’s case was only the tip of the iceberg, and showed how the Medical Council was slow, inactive and performing below the public’s expectations in handling complaints against doctors.

“Most patients would not have the time, resources and knowledge to report a doctor’s malpractice in the first place,” Tim Pang Hung-cheong said. “Reform of the [Medical Council] is long overdue.”

The council receives about 500 complaints each year, but only an average of 22 cases make it to disciplinary hearings.

Each complaint filed to the body is studied by its preliminary investigation committee, which will reject it if three members – its chairman, vice-chairman and one lay member – find the complaint frivolous or groundless.