https://www.scmp.com/rss/276734/feed One woman died and three were critically ill after paying HK$50,000 in October 2012 for "anti-cancer" blood transfusion therapy at a beauty centre. In the procedure, blood is drawn from the patient, then processed to harvest the "cytokine-induced killer cells", or CIK, found in the white blood cells. The CIK cells are multiplied in a culture solution and injected into the patient along with their own blood after two weeks. The founder of the DR beauty company that carried out the treatment, Dr... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Government officials bowed to pressure from the beauty industry and watered down a proposal to protect customers from salons hawking risky treatments using medical devices, according to lawmakers. Civic Party legislator Dr Kwok Ka-ki was among those chastising authorities and calling on the Food and Health Bureau to revert to its original proposal circulated in January 2017, after it issued a revised version last week. “You are backing down completely,” he told undersecretary for food and health... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/2155611/hong-kong-officials-bowed-pressure-beauty-industry?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/2155611/hong-kong-officials-bowed-pressure-beauty-industry?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 17 Jul 2018 07:02:35 +0000 The Hong Kong government on Tuesday moved a step closer to regulating stem cell treatment and other “advanced therapy” products in the city as it launched a two-month consultation following recent cases of serious blunders in beauty salon procedures. In a statement, authorities proposed classifying the services – including gene therapy, somatic cell therapy and tissue engineering – under the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance, which would require amending the law. Stem cells, in particular, are used... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/2140147/hong-kong-beauty-salon-blunders-spark-move?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/2140147/hong-kong-beauty-salon-blunders-spark-move?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Apr 2018 12:15:30 +0000 The distraught mother of a dance teacher who died four years ago after a liposuction said she had been “tormented” every day waiting for the ensuing investigation to conclude. General practitioner Dr Vanessa Kwan Hau-chi from Regrowth Hair Transplant Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui was arrested on Tuesday and charged with one count of manslaughter for her alleged role in the death of Lee Ka-ying, 32. “I felt very strongly [about the news],” Lee’s mother, who identified herself as Miss Wong, said on... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2137144/mother-hong-kong-dance-teacher-who-died-after-liposuction?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2137144/mother-hong-kong-dance-teacher-who-died-after-liposuction?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Mar 2018 08:24:23 +0000 A doctor jailed for 12 years for manslaughter in Hong Kong’s worst beauty treatment blunder would also face a disciplinary inquiry by the medical watchdog after his release, the leader of the city’s largest doctors’ group warned on Tuesday. Dr Gabriel Choi Kin, president of the Hong Kong Medical Association, was referring to Dr Stephen Chow Heung-wing, who was convicted over the death of a woman after a beauty clinic he owned administered experimental cancer therapy on her, which it sold as a... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/2124894/beauty-treatment-blunder-warning-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/2124894/beauty-treatment-blunder-warning-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 19 Dec 2017 04:50:57 +0000 The husband of a woman who died from an experimental cancer therapy sold to her as a health boost on Monday hailed the court’s stern punishment of the beauty clinic’s founder and its technician as “doing justice” but said he still could not forgive them. Legislator Alice Mak Mei-kuen, speaking for Chan Yuen-lam’s husband Yeung Kam-hoi, whom she has been assisting, said: “Mr Yeung respects the court’s verdict and sentencing. But no matter how long the pair are to be put in jail, it cannot bring... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/2124812/duo-citys-worst-beauty-treatment-blunder-deserve?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/2124812/duo-citys-worst-beauty-treatment-blunder-deserve?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 18 Dec 2017 11:30:45 +0000 A beauty chain owner was jailed for 12 years for manslaughter and his technician for 10 years, after a woman in Hong Kong died from an experimental cancer therapy sold to her as a health boost. DR Group boss Dr Stephen Chow Heung-wing, 63, who was behind the worst beauty treatment blunder in the city, looked to the floor as he learned of his sentence, while supporters of technician Chan Kwun-chung began to sob in the public gallery. Both Chow and Chan, 32, had denied one count of manslaughter... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2124727/doctor-jailed-12-years-over-worst-beauty-treatment-blunder?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2124727/doctor-jailed-12-years-over-worst-beauty-treatment-blunder?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 18 Dec 2017 03:45:30 +0000 A Hong Kong beauty clinic owner and a laboratory technician who offered an experimental cancer therapy that killed a healthy woman five years ago will learn of their punishments on Monday. But their co-defendant, a doctor who administered the treatment, will have to wait until January to learn whether she will face a retrial, after a jury failed to reach a majority verdict on her manslaughter charge on Tuesday. Mrs Justice Judianna Barnes Wai-ling indicated that a “custodial sentence is a must... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2124185/prison-sentences-are-must-fatal-hong-kong-beauty-blunder?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2124185/prison-sentences-are-must-fatal-hong-kong-beauty-blunder?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 13 Dec 2017 11:02:09 +0000 The man who lost his wife in the worst beauty treatment blunder in Hong Kong history said in tears on Tuesday that he would never forgive the boss and staff from the chain responsible. “No one would ever forgive these people. They did all these things just because they wanted quick cash,” said Yeung Kam-hoi, the husband of victim Chan Yuen-lam. Chan suffered from multiple organ failure in 2012 after she underwent experimental cancer therapy at the Hong Kong Mesotherapy Centre, which had been... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2124074/widower-beauty-treatment-manslaughter-case-says-he-will?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2124074/widower-beauty-treatment-manslaughter-case-says-he-will?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 13 Dec 2017 01:49:16 +0000 A doctor and a technician have been found guilty of manslaughter after using an experimental cancer therapy that killed a woman, in the worst beauty treatment blunder Hong Kong has ever seen. The convictions were the first of their kind in the city’s vast, largely unregulated industry of beauty treatment clinics. Doctors are rarely found guilty of manslaughter in Hong Kong. In 2003, a gynaecologist was jailed for two years after he killed a woman with a painkiller overdose while carrying out an... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2123998/hong-kong-doctor-and-technician-guilty-manslaughter-over?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2123998/hong-kong-doctor-and-technician-guilty-manslaughter-over?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 Dec 2017 09:00:15 +0000 Shares of Genscript Biotech jumped 20 per cent after the company said the government had accepted its application for running clinical trials for its blood cancer treatment. The company, one of the world’s largest providers of gene synthesis services – primarily to university researchers and pharmaceutical firms – had its application for an “investigational new drug” accepted by China Food and Drug Administration. “Subject to the approval by CFDA, [Genscript] shall be eligible to commence... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2123869/genscript-biotech-soars-20pc-after-cancer-drug-wins-go-ahead?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2123869/genscript-biotech-soars-20pc-after-cancer-drug-wins-go-ahead?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 11 Dec 2017 11:27:11 +0000 Four women fell seriously ill in 2012 after receiving cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cell therapy at beauty clinics in Hong Kong run by the DR Group. The blunder killed one woman and rocked the city’s beauty industry. Prosecutors later accused group owner Dr Stephen Chow Heung-wing, technician Chan Kwun-chung and Dr Mak Wan-ling of manslaughter. March 2, 2011 Chan emails Chow about natural killer (NK) cells that can “kill bad cells before they become cancer”. Intrigued, Chow asks for more... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2123765/how-search-secret-natural-killer-cells-embroiled-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2123765/how-search-secret-natural-killer-cells-embroiled-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 11 Dec 2017 08:15:02 +0000 Hong Kong doctor turned businessman Stephen Chow Heung-wing had a grand plan to help China defeat cancer and improve the health of the country’s ageing population. But just five years later he ended up a defendant in a criminal trial involving the worst beauty treatment blunder in the city’s history. On Monday jurors retired to deliberate the fate of Chow, 63, who is accused of manslaughter after a patient in his clinic died and three others fell seriously ill. Horrific details of a Hong Kong... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2123808/bacteria-levels-only-seen-terminal-aids-patients-doctors?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2123808/bacteria-levels-only-seen-terminal-aids-patients-doctors?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 11 Dec 2017 07:30:30 +0000 Yet another serious medical incident has occurred in a beauty parlour, while Hong Kong follows the manslaughter trial of two doctors and a technician over the death of a woman from blood poisoning after being treated at a Causeway Bay centre. Five years after that tragedy, one of three deaths in recent years, the latest incident at a Tsim Sha Tsui centre, in which a woman lost consciousness after being given an injection, is a reminder that Hong Kong is still waiting for effective regulation of... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2111452/hong-kong-lawmakers-need-act-beauty-industry?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2111452/hong-kong-lawmakers-need-act-beauty-industry?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 15 Sep 2017 18:08:30 +0000 A woman complained of pain more intense than during labour after receiving an “experimental” cancer treatment at a Hong Kong beauty clinic days before her death, a court heard on Wednesday. The daughter of Chan Yuen-lam, 46, recalled taking her to an outpatient clinic on the night of October 3, 2012, hours after she underwent Cytokine-induced killer cell (CIK) treatment, where she was given drugs for flu. ‘No money is no excuse’: Hong Kong court told of pressure at beauty clinic to sell... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2101431/hong-kong-mother-who-died-after-beauty-treatment-complained?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2101431/hong-kong-mother-who-died-after-beauty-treatment-complained?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 05 Jul 2017 15:00:15 +0000 Staff selling treatment packages at a Hong Kong beauty chain accused of the manslaughter of a client were told not to be put off by customers who claimed to be poor, a court heard on Monday. DR Group issued one internal notice that said: “Don’t give yourself an excuse that they have no money.” There are no poor girls in DR ... you have to use your brain to work hard A DR Group staff notice Another said DR staff made multiple times the city’s average household monthly income of HK$20,000. “There... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2101096/no-money-no-excuse-hong-kong-court-told-pressure-beauty?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2101096/no-money-no-excuse-hong-kong-court-told-pressure-beauty?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 03 Jul 2017 12:30:30 +0000 Staff from a Hong Kong beauty clinic at the centre of a manslaughter trial were told specifically not to sell an experimental cancer treatment to customers who were “crazy, barbaric or stubborn” but only to loyal ones, a court heard on Friday. Testifying in the High Court, former beauty consultant Leung Shuk-yi said she believed it was beauty chain DR Group’s attempt to avoid trouble arising from its Cytokine inducted killer cell (CIK) treatment, which was marketed as a health care product.... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2100791/dont-sell-experimental-cancer-treatment-crazy-barbaric-or?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2100791/dont-sell-experimental-cancer-treatment-crazy-barbaric-or?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 30 Jun 2017 13:15:30 +0000 A Hong Kong beauty group owner accused of selling an “unproven” cancer treatment to a healthy woman which resulted in her death in 2012 conceded at a press conference that its so-called advantages were undocumented. When he was quizzed by reporters about how the treatment would benefit healthy people at a press conference five years ago, DR Group owner Dr Stephen Chow Hon-wing replied: “You have asked a very good question. I have no proof.” The general practitioner was caught on camera admitting... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2100630/benefits-cancer-treatment-not-documented-hong-kong-court?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2100630/benefits-cancer-treatment-not-documented-hong-kong-court?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Jun 2017 13:26:19 +0000 A doctor who treated a Hong Kong woman who died of blood poisoning following an “unnecessary” cancer treatment at a beauty centre called her death the most “prominent” and “catastrophic” case he had ever seen, he told a manslaughter trial on Wednesday. Senior medical officer Dr Raymond Liu Wai-to said the type of bacteria found in Chan Yuen-lam’s blood was one of the most lethal he had ever seen and that a globally renowned microbiologist known for his role in fighting the deadly severe acute... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2100406/hong-kong-beauty-customer-who-died-blood-poisoning-was-most?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2100406/hong-kong-beauty-customer-who-died-blood-poisoning-was-most?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 28 Jun 2017 10:14:14 +0000 A woman had to spend months relearning how to walk after undergoing an “unnecessary” cancer treatment that left her limbs numb, a Hong Kong court was told on Tuesday during a manslaughter trial involving a Causeway Bay beauty clinic. Wong Fung-kwan, 62, told the High Court that even now, five years after receiving the treatment, “it is still a problem for me. I always feel heaviness in my feet”. Horrific details of a Hong Kong beauty clinic treatment gone fatally wrong “It is like I have... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2100253/hong-kong-woman-tells-court-how-she-had-relearn-how-walk?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2100253/hong-kong-woman-tells-court-how-she-had-relearn-how-walk?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 27 Jun 2017 12:59:30 +0000 A Hong Kong woman suffered from ­terrible symptoms that left her ­internal organs in turmoil following an “unnecessary” beauty treatment and led to the amputation of her legs and four fingers, a court heard on Monday. In emotional testimony about her experience with DR Group in 2012, Wong Ching-bor said she initially believed the treatment would lead to better health. “I felt really happy,” she recalled. But the former primary school teacher and mother of two sons – one autistic, the other... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2100061/hong-kong-beauty-customer-recalls-trauma-lost-legs-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2100061/hong-kong-beauty-customer-recalls-trauma-lost-legs-and?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 26 Jun 2017 15:05:40 +0000 A Hong Kong woman who died of blood poisoning after receiving an “unnecessary” cancer treatment at a beauty clinic shed tears but was unable to talk to her husband as she spent her final days in the intensive care unit, a court heard during a manslaughter trial. Chan Yuen-lam lost consciousness after being admitted to Ruttonjee Hospital on October 4, 2012, a day after receiving treatment from beauty chain DR Group, her husband told the High Court on Friday. Healthy woman died due to ‘unproven... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2099702/wife-shed-tears-couldnt-speak-husband-deceased-blood?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2099702/wife-shed-tears-couldnt-speak-husband-deceased-blood?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 23 Jun 2017 08:17:56 +0000 Staff at a Hong Kong beauty group accused of manslaughter were encouraged to “seize the opportunity” and sell an unnecessary, “amateurish” cancer treatment to healthy customers, the High Court heard on Wednesday. The cell replacement therapy, which cost almost HK$60,000 a time, should target those with insomnia, pain and immunity problems, one notice instructed employees of the DR Group, even though it had only been tested in a “trial and error” way. Another notice spoke of an open day that... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2099388/hong-kong-beauty-clinic-staff-told-seize-opportunity-sell?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2099388/hong-kong-beauty-clinic-staff-told-seize-opportunity-sell?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Jun 2017 10:19:27 +0000 Horrific details of three Hong Kong women who suffered from blood poisoning in 2012 following an “unproven” treatment at a beauty clinic emerged on Tuesday in a criminal court tasked to determine whether two doctors and a technician should be held responsible for the death of one of the women. Within 24 hours of being treated, the trio had developed symptoms ranging from chills and fever, to shivers and numb limbs. One became unable to walk, while another was rushed to hospital via ambulance,... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2099227/horrific-details-hong-kong-beauty-clinic-treatment-gone?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2099227/horrific-details-hong-kong-beauty-clinic-treatment-gone?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Jun 2017 01:00:38 +0000 Two Hong Kong beauty salon doctors and a technician involved in the death of a woman in 2012 used an “unproven and wholly unnecessary” cancer therapy learned in mainland China on healthy customers that hospitals in the city would not even deploy for the sick, prosecutors alleged at their trial on Tuesday. The expensive treatment offered by DR Group – which involves blood being taken, processed and reintroduced into a patient’s body – resulted in the death of Chan Yuen-lam, 46, after her blood... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2099126/healthy-woman-died-due-unproven-and-wholly-unnecessary?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2099126/healthy-woman-died-due-unproven-and-wholly-unnecessary?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Jun 2017 05:20:38 +0000 Medical entrepreneurship poses new problems for the profession, which dislikes regulation, and for the government, which likes to focus regulation on the public hospital environment and otherwise keep the doctor-patient relationship at arms length, under professional self-regulation. As a result, according to one member of a Food and Health Bureau working group panel set up to investigate medical regulation, there is nothing to define what procedures a doctor can perform outside a hospital. It... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1465609/new-rules-will-help-keep-beauty-treatments-safe?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1465609/new-rules-will-help-keep-beauty-treatments-safe?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 05 Apr 2014 19:55:46 +0000 Doctors are to be banned from carrying out high-risk medical procedures in beauty salons or other private premises without Department of Health approval, the Post has learned. The changes come after one woman died and three others suffered serious injuries following blood-transfusion therapy at a beauty clinic in 2012. The new rules - to be put forward by a Food and Health Bureau working group panel set up to investigate medical regulation - will close a loophole allowing operations, even those... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1454455/ban-risky-surgery-beauty-salons-after-death-therapy-patient?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1454455/ban-risky-surgery-beauty-salons-after-death-therapy-patient?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 21 Mar 2014 20:30:30 +0000 While beauty centres have seen clients stay away in droves since the death of a patient in October, thousands of Hong Kong women still pay for beauty treatments - despite the risks. One woman who agreed to share her experience said she would continue to use beauty centres. She also hoped new regulations in the wake of the tragedy at a DR Beauty centre would not mean the end of low-cost and easily available treatments. Four women suffered septic shock after a blood transfusion and one of them... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1120096/beauty-centre-customers-carry-despite-risks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1120096/beauty-centre-customers-carry-despite-risks?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 04 Jan 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Generations of women have tried to defy the ageing process. But with magazine adverts and television commercials suggesting countless options to help them achieve the seemingly impossible, it is easy to forget that there are risks involved. And as four women discovered in October, the cost can be way beyond the financial burden. The city's beauty centres, which offer procedures as radical as blood extraction, injection of stem cells and body-contouring surgery, are bracing themselves for a... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1120095/beauty-industry-crisis-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1120095/beauty-industry-crisis-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 04 Jan 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Manslaughter part of probe into beauty case Police commissioner Andy Tsang Wai-hung said the investigation involving a blood transfusion therapy case in which a woman died was heading in the direction of possible manslaughter and deception. Four women who received the therapy at a DR beauty centre later suffered septic shock. Tsang said police would look into whether negligence caused the death and it would investigate whether anyone deceived the victims or concealed the side effects.   Cathay... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1071394/briefs-october-28-2012?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1071394/briefs-october-28-2012?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 27 Oct 2012 16:00:00 +0000 We also have fewer horses and bayonets because the nature of our military's changed U.S. President Barack Obama responds to Mitt Romney's claim that the U.S. Navy is smaller than it was in 1917   Our family feels torn apart Mr Yeung, whose wife Chan Yuen-lam died after undergoing a high-risk beauty treatment   There was a period of time in which the culture of cycling was that everybody doped World Anti-Doping Agency chief John Fahey on the case of Tour de France cheat Lance Armstrong https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1068232/who-said-it?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1068232/who-said-it?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 23 Oct 2012 16:00:00 +0000 A man whose wife died after undergoing a high-risk beauty procedure said he had no idea she had received the treatment and accused the salon operator of treating her like a guinea pig. He wanted to know how she had been persuaded to pay for such treatment, which went against her usual nature. "She was not the type of person who was into prettying herself up. She seldom wore make-up. I want to know why she suddenly did such a thing," said the widower of Chan Yuen-lam, who has been left with two... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1068184/dead-womens-husband-accuses-beauty-chain-treating-her-badly?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1068184/dead-womens-husband-accuses-beauty-chain-treating-her-badly?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 23 Oct 2012 16:00:00 +0000 What do you think really scares property buyers and tenants most? If you think it's sky-high asking prices or exorbitant rents you'd be wrong. More than dollars and cents, their greatest fear lies in the restless souls of the dead that might be roaming or haunting premises that are offered for sale or rent. For Chinese people, this inevitably means bad fung shui - and possibly bad luck. Falling under this category are flats, offices or commercial premises that were once the scene of murder,... https://www.scmp.com/business/global-economy/article/1067522/leasing-nightmare-causeway-bay-street?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/global-economy/article/1067522/leasing-nightmare-causeway-bay-street?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Oct 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Having been heavily criticised for dragging its feet, the government has finally launched a review of the need to regulate high-risk medical procedures performed by beauty parlours. This came after "therapeutic treatment" killed a woman and made three others ill. This is not the first time legislation has been called for. Six years ago, six women had to have breasts removed after treatment with an enlargement gel banned by the US and the mainland. It is regrettable that a move to plug any... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1065865/beauty-industry-cant-self-regulate-new-laws-needed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1065865/beauty-industry-cant-self-regulate-new-laws-needed?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 20 Oct 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Guidelines for the beauty industry to be drawn up by a government committee after four women fell dangerously ill following blood transfusions would have "certain functions in law enforcement" even though they were not legally binding, the health minister said yesterday. Dr Ko Wing-man was speaking a day after Medical Association president Dr Tse Hung-hing questioned the use of guidelines and doubted they would be legally enforceable. The committee was set up after one of the four women who... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1061128/beauty-clinic-guidelines-will-have-some-legal-force-minister-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1061128/beauty-clinic-guidelines-will-have-some-legal-force-minister-says?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 14 Oct 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Exhibition marks 50 years of Bond movies An exhibition of more than 100 items of James Bond memorabilia opens at the World Trade Centre in Causeway Bay to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1962 release of the first film based on Ian Fleming's spy novels, Dr. No.   Briefing on high-risk medical procedures The Society of Hospital Pharmacists holds a briefing to explain the importance of high-risk medical procedures and their supervision following the death of a woman after a blood transfusion at a... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1061184/talking-points?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1061184/talking-points?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 14 Oct 2012 16:00:00 +0000 The boss of a chain of beauty clinics was questioned by detectives yesterday after high-risk blood transfusions left one woman dead and three in hospital. Dr Stephen Chow Heung-wing, head of DR Beauty, was seen entering police headquarters in Admiralty early yesterday accompanied by two men. He left the headquarters in a seven-seater vehicle more than an hour later. Police refused to comment officially on why he was there, but they did say that no one has been charged so far. The development... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1060633/head-dr-beauty-chain-questioned-police-after-transfusion-death?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1060633/head-dr-beauty-chain-questioned-police-after-transfusion-death?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 13 Oct 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Poets and philosophers have long pondered the nature of beauty. Now medical politicians aspire to enter the discussion with a proposal to explore more regulation of the "beauty" industry. The problem is that there is no clear understanding of what does and what does not constitute a "beauty" treatment. Indeed, is it possible to distinguish between a health therapy, a beauty treatment and a cosmetic procedure? No review of the beauty industry can take place without a review of the cosmetic... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1059719/better-standards-needed-hong-kong-beauty-and-cosmetic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1059719/better-standards-needed-hong-kong-beauty-and-cosmetic?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 12 Oct 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Beauty salons will draft guidelines to regain the trust of consumers after "high-risk" treatments that left one woman dead and three ill in hospital. In two months the city would also see the first indemnity insurance plan for salons, so they can compensate customers if a treatment goes wrong, the Federation of Beauty Industry said. The plan to set up guidelines on best practice comes as the federation said a one-year government review was too long. It was also unhappy that there were no... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1059826/beauty-industry-draft-guidelines-best-practice?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1059826/beauty-industry-draft-guidelines-best-practice?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 12 Oct 2012 16:00:00 +0000 A relative of one of the women who fell seriously ill last week after a “beauty therapy” accused the DR centre of being irresponsible and making no effort to contact the victims. A man, who would only give his name as Mr Leung, said he was related to the woman who was in a serious condition at Ruttonjee Hospital in Wan Chai. “Someone has died,” he said. “But after so many days, there has been no assistance [and no contact from DR]. I think this is really irresponsible.” A 46-year-old woman, Chan... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1059940/victims-relative-accuses-dr-beauty-chain-being-irresponsible?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1059940/victims-relative-accuses-dr-beauty-chain-being-irresponsible?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 12 Oct 2012 15:45:15 +0000 Private hospitals are seeing more and more patients seeking help after visiting beauty clinics like DR, the president of the Association of Cosmetic Surgery said yesterday. Walter King Wing-keung said some patients had infections after treatments in beauty salons or mainland and overseas clinics. An infection following an "anti-cancer" blood transfusion recommended by a DR clinic is being blamed for leaving one woman dead this week from septic shock. She and three other women received the same... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1058953/private-hospitals-left-sort-out-problems-caused-beauty-clinics?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1058953/private-hospitals-left-sort-out-problems-caused-beauty-clinics?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Oct 2012 16:00:00 +0000 A committee has been set up to review the rules governing the beauty business in the wake of blunders that left one woman dead and three in hospital. This came as police launched a criminal investigation into possible manslaughter charges against people in the DR beauty centre involved in administering "health therapy" blood transfusions that caused the victims to suffer septic shock. Chan Yuen-lam, 46, died on Tuesday morning, while three remained in hospital: one in critical condition, one... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1058954/death-prompts-review-beauty-business?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1058954/death-prompts-review-beauty-business?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Oct 2012 16:00:00 +0000 The government set up a committee on Thursday to tighten the supervision of high-risk beauty treatments, following the death of a woman who was given a blood transfusion. Secretary for Food and Health Dr Ko Wing-man said on Thursday the committee’s main task would be to separate high-risk beauty treatments from ordinary cosmetic procedures, and to put the former under regulatory controls in the wake of the medical blunder. Also on Thursday, police ramped up their investigation of the woman’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1058561/blood-therapy-death-beauty-centre-prompts-legal-review?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1058561/blood-therapy-death-beauty-centre-prompts-legal-review?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Oct 2012 04:55:30 +0000 Doctors working for a chain of beauty therapy centres may face manslaughter charges after the death of a woman who had a high-risk blood transfusion, a barrister said. Restaurant boss Chan Yuen-lam, 46, died at Ruttonjee Hospital in Wan Chai at 9.15am yesterday due to multiple organ failure. She was one of four women who recently fell ill after paying HK$50,000 for the "anti-cancer" procedure offered by the DR chain of beauty centres. The other three were still in hospital yesterday. A... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1058204/blood-therapy-doctors-could-face-manslaughter-charges?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1058204/blood-therapy-doctors-could-face-manslaughter-charges?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 Oct 2012 16:00:00 +0000 The government set up a committee on Thursday to tighten the supervision of high-risk beauty treatments, following the death of a woman who was given a blood transfusion. Secretary for Food and Health Dr Ko Wing-man said on Thursday the committee’s main task would be to separate high-risk beauty treatments from ordinary cosmetic procedures, and to put the former under regulatory controls in the wake of the medical blunder. Also on Thursday, police ramped up their investigation of the woman’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1057712/blood-therapy-death-beauty-centre-prompts-legal-review?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1057712/blood-therapy-death-beauty-centre-prompts-legal-review?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 Oct 2012 03:37:52 +0000 The government plans to restrict anyone other than doctors or specialists from performing high-risk treatments in the private medical market - including those offered by the beauty industry and clinics. A city-wide review will be launched soon of all therapies offered in the private market to identify and monitor high-risk procedures, Secretary for Food and Health Dr Ko Wing-man said yesterday. Risky procedures will be restricted to designated locations, and the government would study overseas... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1057386/risky-medical-treatments-private-market-face-review?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1057386/risky-medical-treatments-private-market-face-review?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 09 Oct 2012 16:00:00 +0000 The founder of a beauty centre distanced himself from the controversy over a medical treatment that left four women seriously ill, but still may be held criminally liable, lawyers said. Dr Stephen Chow Heung-wing, founder and a director of the DR Group, earlier said his staff had only described the blood transfusion procedure as a "health therapy", and the chain had signed disclaimers with both doctors and clients. But lawyers said Chow could still face charges such as operating illegal medical... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1056544/beauty-centre-founder-could-face-charges-over-blood-treatments?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1056544/beauty-centre-founder-could-face-charges-over-blood-treatments?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 08 Oct 2012 16:00:00 +0000 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... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1056548/hong-kong-urged-clamp-down-beauty-salon-medical-therapies?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1056548/hong-kong-urged-clamp-down-beauty-salon-medical-therapies?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 08 Oct 2012 16:00:00 +0000 A rare but highly dangerous superbug was found in one of the four women who fell critically ill after receiving blood transfusion therapy at a DR beauty centre, health officials said yesterday. The antibiotic-resistant bacterium found in the 46-year-old woman, who remains in a critical condition in Ruttonjee Hospital in Wan Chai, was initially identified by the Department of Health as Mycobacterium abscessus. The bacterium almost guaranteed death if those infected developed multiple organ... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1056084/rare-superbug-found-sick-woman-who-had-anti-cancer-blood-therapy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1056084/rare-superbug-found-sick-woman-who-had-anti-cancer-blood-therapy?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 07 Oct 2012 16:00:00 +0000 As three women lay critically ill after paying HK$50,000 for "anti-cancer" blood transfusion therapy, the founder of the DR beauty company that carried out the treatment, Dr Stephen Chow Heung-wing, admitted there was no evidence it worked. The fourth woman to fall ill following the therapy is in stable condition and has been revealed as Chow's elder sister. Chow faced the press yesterday and said all four were referred by the chain to visit one particular doctor. Three had the transfusion on... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1055613/beauty-clinics-boss-says-there-no-evidence-transfusion-treatment?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1055613/beauty-clinics-boss-says-there-no-evidence-transfusion-treatment?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 06 Oct 2012 16:00:00 +0000 The head of a beauty centre in Causeway Bay using a controversial blood transfusion therapy said on Saturday the treatment might help prevent people getting cancer. Dr Stephen Chow Heung-wing, who founded the DR beauty clinic, made the comments after four women suffered septic shocks as a result of severe infections following the therapy. Three women admitted to hospital on Wednesday and Thursday remain critically ill. Another woman, admitted on Friday, is Chow’s elder sister. She is in a stable... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1055426/blood-transfusion-therapy-might-help-prevent-cancer-says-doctor?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1055426/blood-transfusion-therapy-might-help-prevent-cancer-says-doctor?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 06 Oct 2012 11:57:17 +0000