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Hong Kong’s Medical Council will review its decision to terminate an inquiry into a paediatrician accused of a medical blunder that left a child with cerebral palsy and quadriplegia, after the city’s health chief ordered a review of its disciplinary mechanism. The Council on Monday said it would review the decision it made last week to order a stay of proceedings against paediatrician Sit Sou-chi, who was accused of a medical blunder in Baptist Hospital on December 22, 2009. The decision was made due to an 8½-year procedural delay by its secretariat, sparking outrage from the child’s parents, who condemned it as “unjust and irresponsible” and demanded that the council overturn its ruling and issue a detailed explanation and apology. In response to the council’s announcement on Monday evening, the boy’s father Li Zhijian said he hoped the review would consider the public’s dissatisfaction and the strongly-worded demands by the Health Bureau, and called on the council to fulfil its mission of upholding justice and protecting the community. In a statement, the council said it would conduct the review on the afternoon of November 22 “of its own initiative” in light of a related case report that had not been presented to its inquiry panel by the legal representatives of the parties during the last hearing. Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau on Thursday ordered a review of the Medical Council, a day after the Patients’ Rights Association argued that the council’s ruling – the first involving a suspected medical blunder – could allow doctors to evade responsibility in future cases. Lo wrote to council chairwoman Grace Tang Wai-king and requested an account of the mechanisms for handling complaint investigations and disciplinary inquiries. Tang said the council would respond within eight weeks. The government also called on the council to meet the expectations of the public and society concerning the standards and ethical conduct of healthcare professionals. The council is responsible for the disciplinary regulation of medical practitioners in Hong Kong. Sit was charged with allegedly failing to perform necessary and immediate examinations or applying treatment – a delay of 3½ hours following newborn Li Yuanjian’s epileptic seizure – which later resulted in cerebral palsy and quadriplegia, leaving him unable to care for himself for life. The baby’s mainland Chinese parents, Li the father and spouse Peng Hongying, filed a complaint with the council in 2010. The inquiry was originally scheduled to begin in 2016, but was postponed at the request of Sit to review new evidence. The parents told the Post in an interview last week that Yuanjian can make sounds but cannot speak normally. Li said his son’s condition had worsened over the years as his paralysis caused progressive muscle weakness. “How can we envision the future for him?” Li said. “He has never even been able to call me ‘Dad’.”
