Felice Lieh-Mak


Professor The Hon. Felice Lieh–Mak, CBE, JP, FRCP, FRANZCP, Emeritus Professor at the University of Hong Kong, is a Philippines-educated and British-trained Hong Kong physician, psychiatrist, academician, editor, and retired civil servant.

Background

She graduated from the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines and undertook specialty training in London, joining the University of Hong Kong in 1978. She was a member of Hong Kong's Legislative and Executive Councils; served as Chairwoman of the Medical Council and of the English Schools Foundation ; as President of the World Psychiatric Association; and as an Advisor to the United Nations and the World Health Organization.

Education

Leslie Cheung

Felice Lieh-Mak was the psychiatrist of Leslie Cheung, one of the most famous pop music icons in Asia. Leslie Cheung suffered from severe depression and sought treatment from Professor Lieh-Mak for almost a year. Despite her treatment effort Leslie Cheung finally killed himself by leaping off from the 24th floor of the Mandarin Oriental hotel, located in the Central district of Hong Kong Island, citing depression as the cause. As one of the most popular performers in Asia, Cheung's death broke the hearts of millions of his fans across Asia and shocked the Asian entertainment industry and Chinese community worldwide.
Cheung's suicide note :
"Depression! Many thanks to all my friends. Many thanks to Professor Felice Lieh-Mak. This year has been so tough. I can't stand it anymore. Many thanks to Mr. Tong. Many thanks to my family. Many thanks to Sister Fei. In my life I have done nothing bad. Why does it have to be like this?"
Despite the high profile of the patient, no comment has been given by Prof. Lieh-Mak on this incident.

Controversies

Felice Lieh-Mak was involved in a case of failure to take proper steps to ensure complete removal of medical equipment which allegedly resulted in suicide of one of her patients after suffering from years of unbearable pain. The incident involved leaving behind a 2 mm long broken needle in the facial region of the patient. When confronted by the patient, Prof. Lieh-Mak maintained that the needle used in the electroconvulsive therapy, a common procedure practised in psychiatry, was put in and removed by a technician and that she had no responsibility for the mishap. This is in contradiction to one of her most controversial verdicts as Chairperson of the Medical Council Inquiry. On 9 May 2018 a doctor was found guilty of medical misconduct for failing to supervise his fellow nursing staff to perform standard tracheostomy care even though the doctor was not involved in the procedure, nor was he aware of that particular procedure which allegedly led to the patient's death.