Transfusion therapy kills woman, 46

Published on 12/10/2012 00:00

A WOMAN died and three others are being treated in hospital in Hong Kong after undergoing a beauty treatment that involves blood transfusion.

The 46-year-old woman died of septic shock on Wednesday.

Health secretary Ko Wing-man yesterday promised to review regulations governing 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.

All four women tested positive for superbug mycobacterium abscessus, which is resistant to antibiotics. The three in hospitals are a 64-year-old who is in critical condition, a 56-year-old in serious condition and a 59-year-old in stable condition.

They were among 44 people who underwent the HK$50,000 (£4,000) treatment at the DR Beauty clinics. 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. It is being tested as a way of raising survival rate of post-treatment cancer patients.

Beauty clinics offering the treatment in Hong Kong promise it will make people look more youthful, with whiter skin and smaller pores, and strengthen their immune system.