The death of a four-year-old disabled boy from bronchopneumonia was partly blamed by a coroner yesterday on his parents' reliance on Chinese medicine.
Leung Tsz-hung was born with physical and mental disabilities, but his parents were not aware of his condition until he was 11 months old, when he was admitted to Princess Margaret Hospital on July 18, 1995, for treatment of chicken pox and diarrhoea.
However, the boy was removed from hospital by his father, salesman Leung Kwong-keung, 42, eight days later.
The boy then relied on Chinese herbal medicine and did not receive hospital treatment for his disabilities. He died on the way to Kwong Wah Hospital, Yau Ma Tei, on August 17 last year after Mr Leung noticed he was having problems breathing at their Mongkok flat.
Coroner Paul Kelly, who returned a verdict of natural death, said: 'The father removed the boy from the hospital because his own independent view was that his son was allergic to Western medication, which was contradictory to the medical advice.
'If symptoms of the boy's bronchopneumonia were observed soon enough, he could have been saved.