Hoang Cong Luong denies unintentionally killing 9 patients

On the afternoon of January 15, after six defendants, Hoang Cong Luong (33 years old, former doctor of the Intensive Care Department of Hoa Binh General Hospital) was called to the witness stand. Thin, walking slowly, speaking softly, defendant Luong said he was not in good health but tried to stand to testify.

The People's Procuracy of Hoa Binh province accused Luong of following orders from the department head to sign a proposal to repair and maintain the RO water filtration system No. 2, so he knew the specific time. Luong was also the only doctor in the kidney unit with the professional qualifications to order dialysis.

On May 29, 2017, Luong signed the medical orders of the other two doctors to perform dialysis on 18 patients. The dialysis session that day had an accident that resulted in the death of 9 patients. Therefore, he had to take professional responsibility.

Luong was tried for the crime.Involuntary manslaughter, according to Article 98 of the 1999 Penal Code with a penalty of 3-10 years in prison. Luong was accused of knowing that the water used in dialysis had been guaranteed in quality after repair and maintenance before being used for dialysis. However, when he only heard the nurse say the system had been repaired, he gave the order.

In court today, the defendant asserted that he "did not intentionally cause death", and said that he had filed a complaint because he did not agree with the indictment's allegations. According to Luong, the dialysis incident on May 29, 2017 was caused by the process of repairing the equipment. Therefore, this was not related to the defendant's expertise.

Regarding Luong's statement that at the end of 2010, he was sent to attend a basic blood filtration class at Bach Mai Hospital (Hanoi), the chairman asked: "Were we taught about water treatment and the importance of water in blood filtration?". Luong explained that the course had three subjects: doctors, nurses, and technicians. For each subject, there was in-depth training in that field.

Not satisfied with the answer, the judge asked: "Who is responsible for ensuring water quality for dialysis?" Luong said he was not responsible.

"Who do you think the defendant is?", the judge asked for the third time about the responsibility of ensuring the water source - which is vital to the lives of dialysis patients. Luong was silent for a few minutes and asked the panel of judges to ask the Supplies Department about the division of responsibilities.

Luong explained that according to hospital regulations, water quality belongs to the head of the Dialysis Department. At Hoa Binh General Hospital, because there are no engineers or dialysis staff in the dialysis unit, the head of the Intensive Care Department is not responsible, but the responsibility belongs to the engineer of the Medical Technical Supplies Department.

Luong only admitted that, like many other medical staff of the hospital, he knew that the medical equipment for kidney dialysis was repaired on May 28, 2017. Luong was not responsible for knowing the repair process.

On the morning of May 29, 2017, a nurse named Diep announced that the system was "up and running" and was operating normally. The chairman interrupted and asked repeatedly: "Is nurse Diep responsible for ensuring the quality of the water that has been handed over for normal use? Is she assigned to manage the water filtration system? Besides Ms. Diep, did the head and deputy head of the department announce that the water filtration system was operating?"

Luong explained that Diep was a staff member of the dialysis unit, so everyone believed that she received the message from the technician of the Supplies Department and then reported it back. In that situation, Luong only needed to inform the Supplies Department to ensure the water quality.

After Luong finished speaking, the chairman pointed out that in fact, the head of the supplies department at that time, Tran Van Thang, technician Tran Van Son, or the head of the Intensive Care Department Hoang Dinh Khieu, and even the deputy head of the department, Hoang Cong Tinh, did not directly inform Luong about the quality of the dialysis water.

Interrogated before Luong this afternoon, the three defendants Do Anh Tuan (former director of Thien Son company), Bui Manh Quoc (Tram Anh company), and Tran Van Son all gave statements showing that the repair of the dialysis machine system on May 28, 2017 was not completed according to the contract. Specifically, the item of taking water samples from the machine after repair for testing has not been done. The handover minutes of the repair have not been done by the three parties of the Supplies Department - Intensive Care Department - Thien Son Company, but the machine has been operated.

Do Anh Tuan stated that Hoa Binh Hospital signed a contract to hire Thien Son to repair the water filtration system. However, this company collaborated with a third party, Tram Anh Company of director Bui Manh Quoc, to do the work. Previously, the two parties had cooperated many times to repair the system.

Defendant Tuan asserted that the company would only hand over the water to the hospital when it had tested and met safety standards. Furthermore, when the water testing was included in the contract, both parties were aware of the seriousness of the dialysis water. "That test is very expensive, why did the hospital put it into use when we had not yet handed it over in any form?", Tuan asked.

Director Thien Son affirmed that Bui Manh Quoc is a good, hard-working person and has done everything in the contract.

Bui Manh Quoc claimed that he did not know about the contract between Thien Son and Hoa Binh Provincial Hospital and only followed the quotation between his company and Tuan's enterprise.

During the repair on May 28, 2017, Quoc affirmed that he did it proficiently as if he had 12 years of experience. With such a process, on the afternoon of May 27, 2017, Quoc repaired at the hospital in Ha Nam without any problems.

On May 28, 2017, because the work had not been completed, Quoc made an appointment with material officer Tran Van Son to come back the next day to collect water samples for testing. "On the afternoon of the 28th, he made an appointment to come back in the morning of the 29th to collect water samples, but at 8:00 a.m. on the 29th, he saw the RO2 system operating. The defendant asked an officer named Hang, who said she had not seen anyone tell him anything. A while later, the incident happened," Quoc recalled about that fateful morning.

During the interrogation, Quoc continuously waved his hands, explained each technical operation in detail, and appeared to be very skilled and confident in his expertise. However, the defendant finally admitted that he was at fault for not preventing the use of the water filtration system on the morning of May 29, 2017.

Defendant Tran Van Son (former engineer of the Supplies Department of Hoa Binh Provincial Hospital) stated that on May 28, 2017, he was assigned to meet Quoc to contact him to carry out the repairs. As usual, the defendant came to coordinate, based on the quotation to review the list of things that needed to be done. But after the inspection, Son did not supervise as assigned but left and did not return until the next morning.

Son testified that at around 6:30 p.m. on May 28, 2017, when Quoc called to say that the repairs were complete, he told someone to lock the door. "So how can we monitor the work that Quoc did according to the quote?", the court asked. His voice dropping, his hands clasped together, Son said it was his fault for not monitoring.

"Why didn't you stop the dialysis unit from stopping the dialysis at that time?" the judge asked. Son admitted his mistake but said he didn't know if the water sampling that time was the same as the previous times.

Today, the trial continued with the lawyers' questioning. During the first two working days, more than 20 lawyers were present to monitor the questioning.