The article is written by Melinda Hayter.

It is from ABC Riverina.

The topic is Courts.

The article was published on Tuesday, July 21, 2026, at 1:26 pm.

It was updated on Tuesday, July 21, 2026, at 2:15 pm.

Dr. Liu-Ming Schmidt has worked in several hospitals since 2009, including those in Albury, Wodonga, Griffith, Tumut, and BreastScreen NSW.

To summarize:

A six-month ban has been placed on Dr. Schmidt due to a mistake during surgery that led to a patient's death.

The tribunal heard about a serious error during an operation and the recall of thousands of patients.

Dr. Schmidt must take more training and be supervised.

A surgeon in southern NSW made a mistake during an operation, which led to a patient's death, and has been banned for six months.

There have been many complaints about Dr. Schmidt, including one where she missed a cancer during a colonoscopy.

The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal found Dr. Schmidt guilty of not doing her job properly.

The tribunal was told that Dr. Schmidt has worked at several hospitals over the past 17 years.

In 2023, Dr. Schmidt agreed not to practice medicine for a year after something went wrong.

There were mistakes, a lack of oversight, and concerns about Dr. Schmidt's understanding of her actions.

In one case, Dr. Schmidt did not find a large cancer in a patient's colon during a colonoscopy in 2022.

Another surgeon found the cancer three months later.

Dr. Schmidt did emergency surgery for a bowel blockage in 2019, but it was not successful.

The surgery failed because Dr. Schmidt made a serious mistake.

The patient died almost four weeks after the surgery, partly due to the mistake.

The tribunal also heard that Dr. Schmidt did not tell the patient about the mistake.

In another case, Dr. Schmidt did not take good care of a patient with a bowel blockage.

The tribunal said Dr. Schmidt's involvement and oversight were not acceptable.

Dr. Schmidt admitted that between 2015 and 2021, she did not do colonoscopies properly or keep good records.

She also admitted to not keeping good patient records.

The tribunal heard that Dr. Schmidt's actions led to almost 2,000 patients being recalled for another colonoscopy.

The tribunal said Dr. Schmidt tried to fix the problems, but they were concerned about her understanding of her actions.

The tribunal said Dr. Schmidt's evidence was sometimes inconsistent or blamed others unfairly.

Dr. Schmidt has to pay the costs of the case and take more training when her suspension is over.

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