A man waiting for a liver transplant last night said the Hospital Authority owed him an explanation over why a precious organ was wasted while 100 patients waited for the operation.
The 60-year-old, who would only give his name as Mr Tang, said he was 'shocked and extremely disappointed' over the June 16 incident, in which a donor liver was not used because of a cost-cutting policy at the Prince of Wales Hospital. 'It is like giving us hope but then taking it away. There should be an investigation into the matter. The authority owes me and the public an explanation.'
The ex-businessman has been on the waiting list at the Queen Mary Hospital for two years. 'Why is it that the government is so nervous about the stock market blunder [last month's penny-stock crash] but has done nothing about the liver-transplant situation? This is about a human life.'
The chairman of the Liver Living Association, a support group for liver patients at the Prince of Wales Hospital, said other patients waiting for operations were angry over the hospital's red-tape. 'They are so worried. They don't know how long they will have to wait for another liver to be available,' said the chairman, who identified himself as Mr Chan.
He received a transplant two years ago and is now healthy and happy. 'I understand how desperate they feel. We used to comfort those waiting patients and say, 'Look at me, you will have the same chance very soon, never give up'. Now though, I don't know what to say.'
