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Published on July 13, 2007

The court said the statute of limitations had already expired by the time the case reached the lower court.

It was not clear why the lower court ruled on the case.

Sirimas Kaengkongjan had lodged a civil complaint against the state doctor, who she claimed killed her mother on June 5, 2002, and the Permanent Secretary's Office of the Public Health Ministry, the doctor's employer.

Her mother had been admitted to hospital suffering from appendicitis, but died following an injection administered by the doctor.

Sirimas said the higher court's decision had left her depressed and disappointed. "I'm so downcast now."

She will consult lawyers about appealing the reversal.

Preeyaporn Lorsermwattana of the Medical Malpractice Victims' Network, who was present in the courtroom during the ruling, said she was saddened to hear the case end up like this.

"The lives of the victim's family are in disarray because the law added salt to their wounds," she said.

More than 50,000 patients die each year because of medical malpractice but the Medical Council's legal teams have fiercely defended doctors, she said.

"Is the Medical Council there to help or hurt people?" she added.

The victims' or their families' fight for justice was made even more difficult when thennational police chief Kowit Wattana ordered all police stations to seek a patient's medical files via the Medical Council - not directly from medical facilities - she said.

The Medical Council might have altered some files to protect physicians from legal action, she said.

"I want the national police to scrap the order," she said, adding that she was considering petitioning the Admin-istrative Court over the issue.