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Sars widow blames hospital for her husband's death

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The wife of a man who avoided possible death in the September 11 New York terror attacks but died of Sars in Hong Kong plans to make a formal complaint about her husband's treatment at Tseung Kwan O Hospital.

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Lawyer Frankie Chu Hei-tak, 41, postponed his business meeting in the World Trade Centre because his wife was running late, but then caught Sars on a Hong Kong to Beijing flight on March 15.

Karen Chu, 41, claimed doctors delayed giving her husband the anti-viral steroid combination. Hospital records show he did not receive the drugs Ribavirin and Methylpredisolone until March 26, his sixth day in hospital.

'Mr Chu was initially treated as a suspected Sars case and treated with antibiotics as was the practice at the time,' the hospital said.

'When his condition did not improve he was given the combination steroid therapy.'

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Nonetheless, her husband's condition deteriorated and he died on April 16.

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