Three medical blunders in Hong Kong have led to out-of-court payouts of more than $100 million each, the Hong Kong Medical Association's new president, Gabriel Choi Kin, has revealed.
One patient suffered from cerebral palsy after a botched delivery, another had birth injuries but the third was unknown.
Dr Choi labelled the compensation awards, settled out of court, as 'grotesque' and blamed them for jacking up medical negligence premiums in Asia.
Dr Choi said the association had asked the government to cap the amount of compensation to aggrieved patients.
But the plan was yesterday criticised by the Patients Rights Group, which said patients' interests should not be compromised and that a cap would be unfair to someone who suffered severe harm through a doctor's negligence.
Hong Kong doctors are now paying up to $99,950 a year to the Medical Protection Society for coverage in medical indemnity suits, according to a list of subscription rates provided to the South China Morning Post.
