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Perceptions and deceptions: a personal blog by the editor 14 December 2016

A Death in Hong Kong: an evolving essay and insight into medicine and the law in contemporary Hong Kong (part five) Whilst the death of Zoey Leung was now the focus of a criminal investigation I found myself dealing with...

Perceptions and Deceptions: a personal blog by the editor 20 December 2016

A Death in Hong Kong: an evolving essay and insight into medicine and the law in contemporary Hong Kong (part seven) How does anyone decide when to walk away and when to stand and fight? Personal safety? Principles? The cost,...

Editor’s reaction to acid attacks in London

As I travelled to work to day I heard on the radio that there had been five separate “acid attacks” in London last night. It appears that these were all perpetrated by the same assailants and the motivation for the...

A farcical attempt to uphold the law

I read in the paper last week that an 86-year-old plastic surgeon, Franklin Li, was being charged with 21 offences that were associated with the death of a top Hong Kong banker, Zoe Cheung, in a beauty clinic in Tsim...

The future of energy-based devices: do we have limits?

Victor Gabriel Clatici asks what is the final frontier in dermatology, plastic surgery and aesthetic medicine?

COVID-19: a threat or a warning?

Soon the public health implications of COVID-19 will be clearer. In Hong Kong, life has changed so much these past six months. The riots, the protests, the arson, the anarchy. And now nature shows what she can do.

Edinburgh cosmetic doctor fundraises for local NHS workers

Regular contributor to The PMFA Journal, Dr Nestor Demosthenous, has created a JustGiving page to generate support for Edinburgh and Lothians' healthcare workers currently at the forefront of the COVID-19 response.

Letter from Hong Kong (1 October 2020)

Today is National Day in Hong Kong. A celebration of the founding of the People’s Republic of China on 1 October 1949.

Gross Negligence Manslaughter in Healthcare: The medico-legal dilemma (part 8) – Propofol

Propofol played a significant role in the trial of Dr Vanessa Kwan. Vanessa went to South Korea to learn about cosmetic surgery. Cosmetic surgeons in South Korea use a lot of propofol in office-based practice. Ipso facto, Vanessa learned about propofol and its use in cosmetic surgery.

Gross Negligence Manslaughter in Healthcare: The medico-legal dilemma (part 10) – Informed consent (ii)

In the context of medicine, we typically speak of informed consent as having both an ethical and a legal basis. The ethics are related to patient autonomy and human rights. The legal perspective relates to the definition of what occurs if consent is not obtained, and a physical intervention occurs (assault or battery at a minimum and it would appear, gross negligence if things go wrong).

Gross Negligence Manslaughter in Healthcare: The medico-legal dilemma (part 16) – Aggravating factors

The Judge just cannot say, “Lee’s airway and oxygenation were not established or maintained”. This is nonsensical from the perspective of a person trained in medicine. Even more senseless from a person who is not. If Lee’s airway was not established and maintained, how did Lee survive a three-hour operation, albeit in the prone position and without developing any signs of cyanosis?

Gross Negligence Manslaughter in Healthcare: The medico-legal dilemma (part 17) – A mystery

There are things that we just do not know because it is now too late to find out: what were the oxygen saturation levels, for example? But there are other things we do not know although they are known. Where did Dr Kwan go when she left the operating room?