Stricter rules set for beauty clinics: Health chief
June 19, 2013
The regulatory framework of high-risk medical procedures needs to be reviewed, to better protect public health, Secretary for Food & Health Dr Ko Wing-man says.
In response to a question in the Legislative Council today, Dr Ko said the Department of Health has worked with Customs officers and the Consumer Council since October 2012 to screen beauty service advertisements and exchange information to handle complaints.
A working group chaired by the Director of Health has been established, to differentiate between medical procedures and beauty services, he noted.
Comprising representatives from relevant medical specialties, the beauty industry and consumer groups, it is tasked with differentiating high and low-risk medical procedures and non-invasive beauty services, and making recommendations on which procedures should be conducted only by medical practitioners.
As at June 10, there were 48 complaints related to beauty parlour procedures. Of these, seven involved medical practitioners, 36 were not performed by medical practitioners, and five had no such information on record. Forty cases involved either energy-emitting devices such as lasers, or invasive procedures.
The department has also stepped up inspection of beauty salons, and has taken enforcement actions where necessary, to ensure high-risk medical treatments are only provided by qualified practitioners.
After the Hospital Authority alerted it to an incident last October involving high-risk medical procedures which caused one death and made three clients seriously ill, the department took immediate follow-up action.
Dr Ko said Police are conducting a criminal investigation into the case, and as such he could not provide details on the incident.
In the past three years, a total of 77 practitioners were subject to disciplinary inquiries from the Medical Council of Hong Kong. Of these, 69 were found guilty of professional misconduct and were subject to disciplinary sanctions. None involved serious incidents related to cosmetic procedures or plastic surgery.
