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SCMP Reporter

A coroner has left it open for a jury to decide whether philanthropist Anita Chan Lai-ling was unlawfully killed or died of misadventure.
The jury is expected to reach a verdict today in the death of Chan, 69, who died from an overdose of a powerful painkiller on October 17, 2007. She was the widow of noted educator Chan Shu-kui.  
Chan's death was caused  by fentanyl, said to be 80 to 100 times more potent than morphine. 
The court heard radiologist Dr Yau Yat-yin  had prescribed six patches containing the painkiller for Chan's back pain while she was being treated for  a drug overdose  at  Adventist Hospital on October 8, 2007. 
 Coroner William Ng Sing-wai said that if the jury's verdict  was one of unlawful killing, jurors would have to be satisfied  Chan had died because  of gross negligence.
They would also have to be satisfied that Yau's breach of her duty of care was a disregard of Chan's life and safety that went beyond the matter of compensation. 
'Dr Yau said six patches were prescribed because she decided  Mrs Chan needed fentanyl patches for the next 19 days,' Ng said. 'She thought it was safe because she had explained to Mrs Chan on numerous occasions how to use the patches.'
Chan's daughter Lily  told the court earlier that Yau had  told her  mother on October 8 only that  the patches lasted for three days. But Yau said that she gave the deceased a detailed warning on October 10. 
Dr Cheung Chi-wai,  assistant professor of anaesthesiology at  the University of Hong Kong, told the court earlier of  fentanyl's potency. 
Ng said there was no direct evidence that the fentanyl found in Chan's body came from the patches prescribed by Yau.  
'Her son Mr Anson Chan told us she had a long-standing habit of putting medicinal patches [from]  shops or pharmacies on parts of her body where she felt pain,' the coroner said.



Verdict due today in painkiller death