Two public hospital doctors have been granted bail after being arrested in Hong Kong on suspicion of leaking a patient’s data to accuse a surgeon of making a mistake.
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Observers, meanwhile, said that although the incident did not align with the principles of “whistle-blowing”, it underscored the need for a stronger “speak-up” culture within the Hospital Authority.
The 35-year-old associate consultant and 57-year-old consultant from Tseung Kwan O Hospital were released on bail on Tuesday and are required to report to the police in late September.
A source earlier said that the two suspects allegedly accessed the data of a female pancreatic cancer patient who died after a surgical procedure and advised her family on how to file a complaint against the doctor who operated. The pair are both from the hospital’s surgery department.
The patient’s medical records, along with those of others, were allegedly sent to the family to highlight the surgeon’s shortcomings.
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Dr David Lam Tzit-yuen, a lawmaker representing the medical and health services sector, stressed that the purpose of “whistle-blowing” was to uphold justice and protect the public interest, but not to make personal accusations.
“[The suspects] did not release any messages anonymously, but instead put in many of their own medical judgments, such as whether it should be done this way, whether it was done well and whether [the surgeon] was using [the patient] for practice. These contain a lot of accusations and judgments,” Lam told a radio show.