Doctors in the dock: Hong Kong medical academy chief suggests clear guidelines for when blunders become crimes
- Input from medical experts can help authorities ‘make better decisions in rare, complicated cases’
- Academy of Medicine chief urges more doctors to step forward as expert witnesses in criminal cases
Hong Kong needs clear guidelines on how medical blunders are investigated as potential criminal acts, Professor Gilberto Leung Ka-kit, head of the city’s specialist training institution, has said.
The issue surfaced after two doctors were charged last month with manslaughter over a female patient’s death, which sparked widespread concern in the profession that mistakes at work could lead to criminal investigations against them.
Without commenting specifically on the case, Leung, president of the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine, said it was important for police and Department of Justice officials to consult medical experts when investigating medical blunders as potential criminal acts.
Input from the right experts could help the authorities make more informed decisions, especially in rare or complicated cases, he said.
Leung, in an interview last Wednesday, said: “In the face of such cases, how can we seek help from people with experience? Would there be any guidelines for clarity? These are some changes that we could make in the mechanism.”
He also appealed for more specialist doctors to make themselves available as experts during such investigations.