Court acquits Hong Kong woman of practising medicine without a licence, as judge rules natural remedies given to 3 cancer patients not covered by regulations
- Court clears Rita Chiu of three counts of practising medicine without licence over naturopathic remedies offered to patients from 2013 to 2016
- Chiu had said she could cure cancer using magnets, oxygen machine and special diet
A Hong Kong court has acquitted a self-proclaimed doctor of practising medicine without a licence, with a judge ruling the relevant regulations only covered Western treatments, not the natural remedies the woman offered to three cancer patients.
Rita Chiu Suk-yee, 63, had faced three counts of practising medicine without registration from 2013 to 2016, over claims she could cure cancer through the use of magnets, an oxygen machine and a special diet.
As the former head of beauty centre Painting International Limited, she had billed three patients more than HK$700,000 (US$89,600) each for the treatment regime.
Two of the three died from cancer within months of signing up for the remedies.
District Court Deputy Judge Bernard Chung Wai-keung on Tuesday said the crux of the case had rested on whether the treatments Chiu had offered came under the Medical Registration Ordinance, which only applied to Western medicine.
