Coroner’s Court, watchdog to probe delayed blood transfusion to girl with cancer
Father of Chau Tin-yu to appear as witness at October inquiry looking at alleged blunder that led to four-year-old’s vegetative state and later death
Hong Kong’s medical watchdog and the Coroner’s Court will examine an incident in which a young girl was left in a vegetative state and later died after a delayed blood transfusion during an operation at a public hospital.
Eddie Chau, the father of the late Chau Tin-yu, said on Friday that the Medical Council inquiry would take place from October 27 to 30 and he would attend as a witness.
The Coroner’s Court also notified him that it had decided to open an inquest into Tin-yu’s death, with the date to be announced in due course.
Chau said he had lodged a complaint with the Medical Council in April 2021 regarding the anaesthetist involved in the operation at Queen Mary Hospital, but was consistently told there had been no progress over the past few years.
“After five long years of waiting, a turning point has finally arrived. I only hope that this hearing will be conducted impartially. If it is established that the relevant personnel were indeed at fault, they must bear the corresponding responsibility,” he said on social media.
“We must not allow the general public to be disappointed once again, nor must we see a situation where the law is ‘held high but applied lightly’, with a suspended sentence handed down, resulting in leniency and indulgence that renders justice an empty phrase.”
Chau described the coming inquest as his “last hope in the struggle for justice”, because “only through the authority of the court can we compel relevant witnesses to appear and testify, allowing the hidden truth to gradually come to light”.