Hong Kong urged to clamp down on beauty salon medical therapies

Pressure is mounting on the government to close regulatory loopholes that allow beauty salons to provide risky medical therapies without the supervision of health authorities.

This comes after four women fell seriously ill last week following blood transfusion therapy.

"I do not rule out the possibility of the need for legislation, or an amendment to the current law, to pin down those high-risk medical therapies," health minister Dr Ko Wing-man said.

Ko said the government would follow up on the matter in a Legislative Council committee meeting after liaising with various departments.

Three of the women, aged 46, 56 and 60, remain in critical condition. Each paid HK$50,000 for a "health therapy" at a DR beauty centre in Causeway Bay that involved a blood transfusion used in treating cancer.

The fourth woman, 59 - elder sister of the DR centre's founder, Dr Stephen Chow Heung-wing - remains in a stable condition. They all suffered septic shock.