‘A series of unfortunate events’: Hong Kong coroner rules cab driver whose hospital treatment was delayed died of natural cause
Family ‘disappointed and saddened’ by judgement which came three years after leukaemia patient’s death
The wife and son of a leukaemia patient who died after “a series of unfortunate events” including delayed hospital treatment expressed disappointment over a coroner’s ruling that the man’s death resulted from a natural cause.
Based on legal precedents, Coroner June Cheung Tin-ngan ruled today that taxi driver Sung Hoi-chau died of a natural cause because he suffered from a serious illness with a foreseeable death rate, even though there were delays and questionable decisions made when doctors at Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret Hospital attended to him.
Outside court Sung’s son Tony Sung said: “We are disappointed and saddened.”
READ MORE: ‘Mistakes were made’ in cab driver’s fatal last minutes at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, expert tells inquest
The deceased man’s widow, Lau Tung-miu, sobbed after learning the ruling.
The taxi driver, who died from septicaemia, was discharged from Princess Margaret Hospital on October 31, 2011, after receiving chemotherapy, despite his white blood cell count being virtually zero.
No antibiotics, nor a granulocyte colony-stimulating factor – an injection to boost one’s white blood cell count – had been prescribed to Sung for home use.
The 51-year-old was taken by ambulance to Queen Elizabeth Hospital a day after suffering from fever, but was allowed to board a taxi to return to Princess Margaret - a trip that took 34 minutes.
At Princess Margaret, the court heard that he waited for at least two hours until he was attended by a doctor from the hospital’s internal medicine unit.
Sung died after suffering a seizure and for the entirety of his time at the hospital he was not given any antibiotics and just an IV drip, the court heard earlier.
READ MORE: Leukaemia patient’s hospital transfer caused his death, expert tells inquest
Cheung said since that because Sung suffered from acute monocytic leukaemia, a severe condition, the court found that he had died of a natural cause.
But the coroner, who repeatedly described the event as “unfortunate”, suggested the Hospital Authority review its guidelines for public hospitals when discharging patients like Sung. Instructions given to patients’ family members should also be reviewed, she said.
Cheung also said public hospitals should develop an emergency protocol for patients suffering from fever after chemotherapeutic treatments.
The son said his father’s death should not be regarded as being caused naturally as there had been an act of omission. Still, he said he respected the court’s decision.
He wished the Hospital Authority would adopt the coroner’s suggestions to “avoid unfortunate events from happening again in the future”.
