TOMMY CHAN AND ANOTHER v. YUEN HO-HUNG AND OTHRES

TOMMY CHAN AND ANOTHER v. YUEN HO-HUNG AND OTHRES

The court will award reasonable medical and compensatory damages but will not award the cost of surgery that the court considers unlikely to be undertaken nor will it require the defendant to pay for disproportionate surgical costs chosen by the plaintiff; defendant liable only for reasonable treatment costs.

Citation
TOMMY CHAN AND ANOTHER v. YUEN HO-HUNG AND OTHRES
Parties
1st Plaintiff: Tommy CHAN; 2nd Plaintiff: TSANG Chi-kwan; 1st Defendant: YUEN Ho-hung; 2nd Defendant: CHU Yung-siu; 3rd Defendant: CHEUNG Ping-kai; 4th Defendant: CHAN Lai-hing
Court
Court of First Instance
Jurisdiction
Hong Kong
Judgment Date
18 October 1976
Case Number
HCA2170/1975
Procedural Posture
Personal Injury Tort Assessment of Damages / Quantum Assessment (liability Admitted)
Outcome
Judgment for plaintiffs on quantum only (liability admitted) with assessed damages awarded to each plaintiff as set out
Legal Topics
Damages, Medical Expenses, Reasonable Costs of Surgery, Mitigation, Disfigurement
Source Language
EN
Torts Personal Injury Civil Procedure Damages Medical Expenses Reasonable Costs of Surgery Mitigation Disfigurement

Case Brief

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Parties

Tommy CHAN

1st Plaintiff

TSANG Chi-kwan

2nd Plaintiff

YUEN Ho-hung

1st Defendant

CHU Yung-siu

2nd Defendant

CHEUNG Ping-kai

3rd Defendant

CHAN Lai-hing

4th Defendant

Procedural Posture

Personal Injury Tort Assessment of Damages / Quantum Assessment (liability Admitted)

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether court should award costs of plastic surgery when plaintiff is unlikely to undergo it
  2. 2 Whether a plaintiff is entitled as of right to the surgeon of his choice where that choice produces disproportionately higher costs
  3. 3 Extent to which defendant must pay for future medical treatment and cosmetic surgery

Ratio Decidendi

The court will award reasonable medical and compensatory damages but will not award the cost of surgery that the court considers unlikely to be undertaken nor will it require the defendant to pay for disproportionate surgical costs chosen by the plaintiff; defendant liable only for reasonable treatment costs.

Court Disposition

Judgment for plaintiffs on quantum only (liability admitted) with assessed damages awarded to each plaintiff as set out

Orders

  • Judgment for 1st plaintiff against defendants in the sum of HKD 1,610 (special damages HKD 110 and general damages HKD 1,500)
  • Judgment for 2nd plaintiff against defendants in the sum of HKD 9,440 (special damages HKD 440 and general damages HKD 9,000, the latter including HKD 4,000 to cover both cost and temporary discomfort of plastic surgery)