How search for secret ‘natural killer’ cells embroiled Hong Kong beauty chain in manslaughter case
A summary of the events leading up to the death of a blood therapy client at a clinic run by DR Group
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 information
April 23, 2011
Chan tells Chow people are secretly doing NK therapy in mainland China and Taiwan for anti-ageing and health care purposes and remarks that it could be “a good source of stable income for DR”
Bacteria at levels ‘only seen in terminal Aids patients’: doctors await verdict over fatal beauty blunder
May 2011
