Jury to decide mother’s cause of death in 2017 blunder case

On the 12th day of the inquest, coroner Monica Chow Wai-choo ordered a five-member jury to determine whether Tang Kwai-sze, a mother of two – who died seven years ago after a medication prescription error – had died as a result of a mishap or natural causes. .

Tang, 44, was diagnosed with kidney disease in 2016 at United Christian Hospital. However, she suffered acute liver failure and died in 2017 after receiving a liver transplant, following a forgotten prescription.

The investigation found that doctors Lam Chi-kwan and Chan Siu-kim of United Christian Hospital did not prescribe anti-hepatitis B virus drugs to Tang during his kidney treatment between August 2016 and February 2017 , while Tang had been carrying hepatitis B since 2008. .

Chow told the jury he had the authority to determine whether Tang’s death was caused by misadventure, natural causes, or return an open verdict.

Chow told the jury that the court called 15 witnesses and reviewed 38 documents during the investigation, saying it was their responsibility to assess the reliability of the evidence presented. Referring to the autopsy report, Chow said Tang suffered from acute pneumonia after the transplant and eventually died of sepsis.

Chow presented two possible scenarios for the jury to consider. If jurors believe that Tang’s hepatitis B virus was activated due to administration of a high dose of steroids without the antiviral drug or lipid-lowering drug Zocor, they should conclude that Tang died by misadventure since the incident was triggered by medication.

On the other hand, if they are convinced that Tang’s liver failure is the result of autoimmune hepatitis, a chronic liver disease in which the immune system attacks liver cells, they would have to determine that Tang is death from natural causes.

Chow also told the jury that an open verdict was possible if they could not determine the exact cause of Tang’s liver failure. She added that the Coroner’s Court has limited judicial jurisdiction and the purpose of the inquest is not to investigate human negligence.

The hearing continues today and the jury will retire to consider the verdict.