bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Mood swings caused by slimming medicine prescribed by a doctor at a Sha Tin beauty parlour had driven a teenager to attempt suicide, the former patient told a Medical Council hearing yesterday.
But a lawyer for Siu Wing-ting, the doctor, said the parlour had no records showing his client had prescribed the drugs to the youth.
And the chairwoman of the company that runs the parlour, the Be A Lady Medical Centre,  said its doctors kept treatment records and that it disposed of clients' medical records after two years.
Council chairwoman Felice Lieh Mak  said she was surprised that the centre failed to keep such important medical information, while keeping detailed records of the patient's slimming progress.
Dr Siu, who worked on contract for the parlour for three months from May to July 2004, faces 12 charges of improperly prescribing slimming drugs to the patient, then aged 17, who had a history of psychiatric problems.
The hearing was adjourned in December when the patient was unable to identify Dr Siu as the doctor who had treated him.
The patient said yesterday that he had been on medication when called to identify Dr Siu in December, and insisted it was Dr Siu whom he had seen in 2004.
Kennie Leung, a former beauty consultant at the Be A Lady Medical Centre in Sha Tin, told the hearing there had only been one Dr Siu working at the centre during that period.
Dr Siu was not present at the hearing yesterday.
The council found him guilty last month of improperly labelling slimming drugs he dispensed to other patients and temporarily barred him from practising.
Doreen Leung Siu York-chee,  chairwoman of the parlour's operator, Be a Lady Ltd, said that from this month, the centre would stop renewing its doctors' contracts since the Hong Kong public 'seems hostile to slimming centres prescribing drugs to their clients'.
Mrs Leung testified that the company did not keep clients' medical records for longer than two years.
She said doctors working for it  kept separate files  containing medical details of consultations, which the doctors might take away for their own records.
The responsibility for the prescription of drugs rested with the doctors, Mrs Leung said.
Professor Mak questioned Mrs Leung about the centre's responsibility to help clients identify and communicate with the doctors in charge of their consultations.
Mrs Leung said that while patients might not be able to reach the centre's doctors directly for inquiries, the centre would forward their inquiries to the doctors and set up an appointment between them if necessary.
The case was adjourned until tomorrow, when the council will deliver its verdict.



Slimming pills left teen suicidal, panel told