Doc suspended for 1 month; fragments left inside patient for 12 yrs

A female doctor has been suspended for one month after the Medical Council found her guilty of professional misconduct for leaving fragments of a surgical drainage tube inside a patient for 12 years.

Dr. Shek Ngok-yung performed surgery in January 2011 to remove a tumor from a female patient's right breast.

It was not until 2023, when the patient sought treatment from another doctor for persistent pain in her right chest that an X-ray revealed three pieces of the drainage tube from the operation had remained inside her body.

The prosecution argued that Dr. Shek's negligence fell well below the standard reasonably expected of a medical practitioner.

In mitigation, the defence said Dr. Shek accepted full responsibility for her mistake and she had practised medicine for nearly 40 years without any similar incidents, describing the case as an extremely rare lapse caused by momentary oversight.

The Medical Council noted that the patient did not suffer any lasting harm and ordered the doctor's name be removed from the medical register for one month.