Doctors hopping mad over Ann Chiang's comments
Ann Chiang, expressing her 'regret', said she did not mean to stigmatise anyone. Photo: RTHK
Pro-government lawmaker Ann Chiang, from the DAB party, has come under fire from the medical community for making “insulting and inappropriate” remarks about the mentally ill.
In remarks opposing a filibuster in the legislature on Wednesday, Chiang had said: “Psychiatrists would become crazy themselves when they hear more from their patients.”
But the Medical Association said that is far from truth. It expressed regret that a lawmaker had worsened the public's misunderstanding of patients, when she should instead support patients in fighting off the stigma.
The association’s president Louis Shih said public figures should avoid stigmatising people with psychological illness.
"People usually have a wrong image of people who have psychological illness,” Shih said. “You want people making comments in the public arena to avoid making this kind of statement."
On Wednesday, the Hong Kong College of Psychiatrists also condemned Chiang for her “untrue and derogatory statement about psychiatrists and patients with mental health problems”.
Chiang on Thursday ‘expressed regret' over her statement, saying she she did not mean to stigmatise anyone. She had simply wanted to express her frustration at the delay tactics used by some pan-democrats, Chiang said.
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Last updated: 2015-12-17 HKT 13:48
http://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1230257-20151217.htm