This morning, Hoang Cong Luong is healthy enough to appear in court.

Hoang Cong Luong and Bui Manh Quoc were tried at first instance for the crime.Involuntary manslaughteraccording to Clause 2, Article 98 of the 1999 Penal Code with a penalty of 3 to 10 years in prison.

Truong Quy Duong (former hospital director), Hoang Dinh Khieu (former hospital deputy director), Tran Van Thang (former head of the supplies department), Tran Van Son (officer of the supplies department) and Do Anh Tuan (director of Thien Son pharmaceutical joint stock company) for the crime.Lack of responsibility causes serious consequences, according to Clause 2, Article 285 of the 1999 Penal Code with a penalty of 3 to 12 years in prison.

On the afternoon of January 13, Hoang Cong Luong's lawyer said that the defendant was in good health to attend the trial on January 14. In case the first instance trial lasts for many days and Luong's health is not guaranteed, the group of lawyers will make a request to the panel of judges later.

The case was first tried in mid-2018 with 3 defendants, but after about 20 working days, the People's Court of Hoa Binh City announced to return the case file for further investigation. After more than 6 months, 4 more people were prosecuted.

At the first instance trial which was reopened 6 days ago, defendant Hoang Cong Luong was absent due to health reasons so the panel of judges decided to adjourn the trial.

According to the indictment, on the morning of May 29, 2017, 18 patients undergoing dialysis at Hoa Binh General Hospital showed signs of abnormality. 9 people died. The cause was due to the water source for dialysis not being guaranteed.

Luong was later accused of being responsible because he was a professional, well-trained person, and under the orders of the department head, signed the proposal to repair and maintain the RO water filtration system No. 2, so he knew the specific repair time. Luong was also the only doctor among the three assigned to treat patients in the dialysis unit who was qualified to order dialysis.

On May 29, 2017, Luong signed the medical orders of the other two doctors in the unit to perform blood filtration for the patients, so he had to take professional responsibility for the treatment that day. He needed to know whether the water used for blood filtration was of guaranteed quality or not. However, after only hearing the nurse say that the system had been repaired, he issued the treatment order.

Former Director Truong Quy Duong and Deputy Director Hoang Dinh Khieu were accused of being irresponsible and lax in management, leading to a serious incident. Mr. Duong directly signed the decision to establish the dialysis unit but did not arrange for personnel to check the water quality before, during and after dialysis. Mr. Khieu also failed to supervise his subordinates, allowing them to arbitrarily use the repaired water filtration system for a long time without testing.