Malaysian-Indian woman's widower wins racism battle against Hong Kong hospital

London, Apr. 1 (ANI): The husband of a Malaysian-Indian woman, who died in 2000 due to the negligence of a Hong Kong hospital's staff, has finally won the legal battle of racial discrimination against the hospital administration.

Martin Jacques, a journalist, has been awarded with a "substantial sum" in compensation after winning the decade old battle.

"No one can compensate for Hari's (Harinder Veriah) death but justice does matter. It is tragic that care for those who are ill can be prejudiced by their colour. But as Hari found in 14 months in Hong Kong, racism is endemic to Hong Kong society," The Guardian quoted Jacques, as saying.

Veriah died in the Ruttonjee Hospital on January 2, 2000 after an epileptic seizure.

A day before her death, she had complained to Jacques about her poor treatment, saying she was at the "bottom of the pile" because of the colour of her skin.

"I fought to get hospital records and I started to get a picture of what happened and the picture was that her treatment was outrageous. There's absolutely no reason why someone should die from epilepsy," Jacques said.

Veriah, a lawyer, was admitted to Ruttonjee Hospital after suffering a grand mal epileptic fit on the first day of the millennium, after a celebratory night out.

When he received a call from a nurse the next morning to say that Veriah had suffered another fit, he was at her bedside within 10 minutes.

There was no sign of a doctor, who had prescribed Valium, he said. Veriah never regained consciousness and died shortly afterwards.

Jacques later found out that t Veriah had suffered a respiratory depression - a decline in oxygen - after being given a sedative and that she was not monitored or treated properly. (ANI)