A father is to file a complaint of negligence with the Medical Council over the treatment of his son, a hepatitis B patient, who died of late stage liver cancer despite being told he was stable during regular consultations at Queen Mary Hospital. Tsang Lap-hon, who died in late May aged 34, had been receiving treatment at the hospital for hepatitis B since April 1999 and had taken part in a five-year clinical drug trial. His father, Tsang Chung-yuen, said the hospital failed to monitor his son's condition and provide proper care. The elder Tsang said that over the years his son had been told that his hepatitis B was stable. But in March last year, Tsang Lap-hon was suddenly diagnosed as having late stage liver cancer. He died 14 months later. It is the second case in recent years in which concerns have been raised over care of liver patients at Queen Mary Hospital. Tsang said he would lodge a complaint to the Medical Council over his son's treatment. His son's doctor was University of Hong Kong chair professor of medicine and hepatology Lai Ching-lung. 'We are not seeking compensation, we just want justice,' Tsang, who is in his 70s, said. Documents and letters between the elder Tsang and the Queen Mary Hospital revealed that the patient's alpha fetoprotein (AFP) level - an indicator of the risk of liver cancer - jumped from 13.02 nanograms per millilitre in October 2006 to 103,100 ng/ml in March last year. The normal level should be below 20. The younger Tsang missed his annual AFP test in November 2007, but was told that his condition was stable in consultations in June, July and August 2007, his father said. 'It is impossible for the level to jump 8,000 times just because he missed one consultation,' Tsang said. 'My heart still aches as I talk about this.' He did not know why his son missed the consultation. Chinese University Professor Tony Mok Shu-kam, who specialises in liver cancer, said the AFP test should be accompanied by ultrasound scan to provide a better indicator of liver cancer. It should be done every six months to one year, depending on the patient's risk level. A Queen Mary Hospital spokeswoman, replying on behalf of Professor Lai, said the younger Tsang had participated in a hepatitis B clinical trial between March 2002 and April 2007, and that he was told about the related risks. The spokeswoman said Tsang had regular consultations and treatment for hepatitis B, and his condition was stable. 'Hepatitis B patients have to arrange their own ultrasound scans. Our hospital reminded Tsang of regular ultrasound scans. This clinical trial did not include AFP tests,' the spokeswoman said. She said the AFP tests were done only because 'Tsang's previous AFP level had been high'. The elder Tsang said he had also complained to Democratic Party legislator Albert Ho Chun-yan. 'I hope legislators can pressure the Hospital Authority to do something,' he said. Tim Pang Hung-cheong, a spokesman for Patients Rights Association, said Tsang's family could press for an inquest. 'An inquest can help unfold the facts and find the cause of death, it can help the public to understand if there is anything wrong with the health care system.' In February, an inquest into the death in September 2007 of another liver patient at Queen Mary Hospital called for more transparency in its liver transplant policy. The Coroner's Court found that Shea Kwai-fong, the 47-year-old chronic liver disease patient, had died of natural causes. Her husband Chiu Fuk-sun said the hospital doctors failed to tell him and his wife that she was not on the waiting list for a liver transplant until only a few weeks before she died.
