Andrew Burd (Prof Rtd)
Retired Professor of Plastic Surgery; Freelance Medico/Legal Consultant
Email: darburd@gmail.com
Co-Editor - The PMFA Journal
Andrew Burd is a British trained Plastic Surgeon, a Harvard trained Scientist, a School of Life trained Educator and a Pragmatic Ethicist. He was the Professor of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Centenary Professor of Regenerative Medicine and Translational Science at the School of Tropical Medicine in Kolkata, India. He is currently completing his PhD looking at the potential for Big Data to influence Health Policy. He is the founding and current Editor of The PMFA Journal. He is a staunch patient advocate with uncompromising views on patient safety.
Latest Contributions
Today is the first day of the Chinese New Year. This is the year of the Tiger. I am fine, I am a Dragon. This is going to be an interesting year.
It is the system that places the Judge as an interpreter of “truths” and sadly, susceptible to false information.
Just to recap; I have been looking at the Reasons for Sentence in the case of HKSAR and Kwan Hau chi, Vanessa. The verdict had been declared: “guilty”. Now, on 4 October 2021, the Hon D’Almada Remedios J is going to present her review of the case and the factors she has taken into account when deciding the sentence. I am referring to an official document which is in the public domain. The case reference is HCCC 200/2018. It is a shameful document, but we must all share in that shame.
The Judge just cannot say, “Lee’s airway and oxygenation were not established or maintained”. This is nonsensical from the perspective of a person trained in medicine. Even more senseless from a person who is not. If Lee’s airway was not established and maintained, how did Lee survive a three-hour operation, albeit in the prone position and without developing any signs of cyanosis?
There are things that we just do not know because it is now too late to find out: what were the oxygen saturation levels, for example? But there are other things we do not know although they are known. Where did Dr Kwan go when she left the operating room?
I was troubled by the Judge's response and wondered what a mathematician would have thought of it. So, the following emails ensued:
Gross Negligence Manslaughter in Healthcare: The medico-legal dilemma (Part 19) - The judge fails...
The issue at stake is one of culpability. Who is to blame when things go wrong? That involves both an awareness of what has actually happened and those responsible for the various elements that have shown to be at fault.
Because of liability issues there is a reluctance to make clinical practice guidelines (CPG) statutory requirements; that is to say, guidelines are ‘suggestions’, not ‘instructions’. And why is this important to this case?
Gross Negligence Manslaughter in Healthcare: The medico-legal dilemma (part 22) – The prone position
We all know what snoring is, but do we understand what snoring means?
If a person is snoring that means they are breathing. If they are breathing and their skin is of a normal colour does that not suggest that they are oxygenating the tissues?