Plastic surgeon struck off register over woman's liposuction death

The Medical Council struck a plastic surgeon's name off the register for five months yesterday after an elderly patient died during a liposuction operation in 2003.

The ruling against Dr Franklin Li Wang-pong was made after he was found guilty yesterday on three charges - that he was unfamiliar with resuscitation procedures, unfamiliar with sedation safety guidelines and failed to provide sufficient resuscitation facilities at his clinic.

He was also found guilty and reprimanded for failing to keep proper patient records. Li also faced a charge of failing to monitor a patient's situation, but was ruled not guilty.

Lam King-fong, a piano teacher, had been Li's patient since 1978. On August 28, 2003, Lam had surgery to remove fat from her abdomen at Li's private clinic in Tsim Sha Tsui.

Lam fell unconscious after being given a local anaesthetic, and an attempt to resuscitate her failed. She was certified dead after being sent to hospital. The Coroner's Court ruled in 2006 that Lam's death was the result of misadventure.

At the beginning of the hearing yesterday, which was a continuation of three held in October and last month, the defence counsel applied to drop the case because the defendant and the witnesses might not be able to remember the case clearly after six years.