Beauty treatment kills a woman and leaves three women hospitalized
Police and the medical authorities are investigating the death of the 46-year-old in a case that has highlighted the lack of regulation in the city's cosmetic industry. The four women fell ill after having a complicated blood transfusion procedure at the DR beauty chain, according to government statements.
The case has raised concerns about potentially risky medical treatments at the city's numerous clinics offering procedures that claim to enhance a person's appearance. Health Secretary Ko Wing-man promised Thursday to review regulations governing the clinics and other private medical facilities. Ko said the review would look at putting private clinics that carry out "high risk medical treatments or procedures under regulatory control."
Health authorities are investigating whether a registered doctor carried out the treatment and whether the procedure was certified by Hong Kong's Medical Council. The government says it will review regulations on private health care procedures and facilities. ''The aim of the review is to strengthen regulatory control of private health care facilities, including high risk medical treatments, in order to safeguard public safety,'' Hong Kong Health Secretary Ko Wing-man said. Police Commissioner Andy Tsang has promised a thorough investigation.
The procedure, known as DC-CIK, involves the "concentration and processing" of blood by a lab before it is re-injected into the person it was drawn from, the government said. It is being tested as a way of raising the survival rate of cancer patients after they have surgery, radiation therapy or chemotherapy. It does not appear to have any proven effect on appearance.
The women are believed to have paid about HK$50,000 (US$6,400; £4,000) for the process.
Blood samples taken from the woman who died on Wednesday had revealed the bacterium Mycobacterium abscessus, health officials said. The bacterium can cause a variety of infections, including that of the skin and lungs. A total of 44 people are believed to have undergone the procedure at the DR beauty centre, said a Xinhua news report citing the Hong Kong health department.
Early post-mortem tests by health officials showed the presence of Mycobacterium abscessus, a superbug that is notoriously difficult to kill. Although the direct cause of the woman's death has yet to be confirmed, experts say it is likely to have been bacterial infection. William Chui, president of the Society of Hospital Pharmacists in Hong Kong, said: "They now have to find out where the bacterial contamination occurred in this whole process. "Did it happen when the blood was drawn, during the culture process or when it was reinjected back into the body?"
Governments in many regions of Asia regulate doctors' conduct and the sale of medicine but exercise little or no control over beauty salons and "healthcare" products. In Singapore in 2002, 15 women developed liver problems and one died after consuming Chinese-made slimming pills that were later found to contain two undeclared ingredients. Felice Lieh Mak, a leading medical expert in Hong Kong and former chairman of the Medical Council, said: "We hope that this tragedy will result in some attempt at making a legislation, or at least work towards legislating and defining what medical treatment is."
"I entirely abandoned the study of letters. Resolving to seek no knowledge other than that of which could be found in myself or else in the great book of the world, I spent the rest of my youth traveling, visiting courts and armies, mixing with people of diverse temperaments and ranks, gathering various experiences, testing myself in the situations which
Health authorities are investigating whether a registered doctor carried out the treatment and whether the procedure was certified by Hong Kong's Medical Council. The government says it will review regulations on private health care procedures and facilities. ''The aim of the review is to strengthen regulatory control of private health care facilities, including high risk medical treatments, in order to safeguard public safety,'' Hong Kong Health Secretary Ko Wing-man said. Police Commissioner Andy Tsang has promised a thorough investigation.
The procedure, known as DC-CIK, involves the "concentration and processing" of blood by a lab before it is re-injected into the person it was drawn from, the government said. It is being tested as a way of raising the survival rate of cancer patients after they have surgery, radiation therapy or chemotherapy. It does not appear to have any proven effect on appearance.
The women are believed to have paid about HK$50,000 (US$6,400; £4,000) for the process.
Blood samples taken from the woman who died on Wednesday had revealed the bacterium Mycobacterium abscessus, health officials said. The bacterium can cause a variety of infections, including that of the skin and lungs. A total of 44 people are believed to have undergone the procedure at the DR beauty centre, said a Xinhua news report citing the Hong Kong health department.
Early post-mortem tests by health officials showed the presence of Mycobacterium abscessus, a superbug that is notoriously difficult to kill. Although the direct cause of the woman's death has yet to be confirmed, experts say it is likely to have been bacterial infection. William Chui, president of the Society of Hospital Pharmacists in Hong Kong, said: "They now have to find out where the bacterial contamination occurred in this whole process. "Did it happen when the blood was drawn, during the culture process or when it was reinjected back into the body?"
Governments in many regions of Asia regulate doctors' conduct and the sale of medicine but exercise little or no control over beauty salons and "healthcare" products. In Singapore in 2002, 15 women developed liver problems and one died after consuming Chinese-made slimming pills that were later found to contain two undeclared ingredients. Felice Lieh Mak, a leading medical expert in Hong Kong and former chairman of the Medical Council, said: "We hope that this tragedy will result in some attempt at making a legislation, or at least work towards legislating and defining what medical treatment is."
"I entirely abandoned the study of letters. Resolving to seek no knowledge other than that of which could be found in myself or else in the great book of the world, I spent the rest of my youth traveling, visiting courts and armies, mixing with people of diverse temperaments and ranks, gathering various experiences, testing myself in the situations which
offered me, and at all times reflecting upon whatever came my way so as to derive some profit from it."
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