Hours later, Chung was rushed back to the hospital with a punctured colon, a complication he blames on having less than his doctor's full attention. He filed a complaint, but Hong Kong's Medical Council declined last week to discipline Dr. Tung Hiu-ming. The disciplinary board said Tung spoke on the phone only briefly, and the board acquitted him of professional misconduct, sparking a public furor here that has dominated talk radio shows, editorial pages and dinner conversations. In a city where most people own a mobile phone, one of the highest rates in the world, and where people often think nothing of leaving their cell phones on in movie theaters, concerts, weddings and funerals, the idea of a doctor chatting during surgery did cross the line. The board's refusal to ban doctors' use of cell phones in the operating room, even though patients are warned not to use them inside hospitals, has sparked a debate over the rights of doctors versus those of patients, professionalism, and acceptable behavior.
Cell phones are far more widely used here than in the United States.
From schoolchildren to street vendors, everyone seems to have a cell phone pressed to his or her ear. Hong Kong enacted a law requiring drivers to use hands-free units in July, and many country clubs and downtown social clubs ban the use of cell phones entirely. The Hospital Authority has posters at public hospitals advising patients, visitors and staffers not to use the phones because they might interfere with medical equipment, so the Medical Board's willingness to forgive doctors galled many here. In Chinese culture, doctors are considered like a father or mother. Now, no more.