Doctors’ blunder left Hong Kong mother dying from liver failure
Hospital apologises for failing to treat woman with correct drugs and says it has set up a panel to investigate
A serious blunder by doctors led to the acute liver failure of a Hong Kong mother who later needed two transplants to save her life and is still in critical condition, the hospital involved said on Tuesday.
Two specialists, who have not been named, are still practising at United Christian Hospital despite a failure to prescribe an anti-viral drug as a precaution when treating Tang Kwai-sze, 43, with steroids for a kidney condition in January and February.
Without the medicine, Tang, a hepatitis B sufferer, was at risk of acute liver failure – a condition that befell her in April.
Hospital CEO Dr Chui Tak-yi said the negligence came to light only when the hospital looked into Tang’s medical records on April 6.
But Tang’s teenage daughter, Michelle, said the family was never informed about the mistake until they questioned the hospital about the mother’s sudden liver condition on April 19. “I was shocked when I first learned about this [the oversight],” Michelle said on Tuesday. “I was suspicious of my mother’s condition, so I went to United Christian to ask about it. The hospital never reached out to us before that.”