Hong Kong Customs combats unfair trade practices at medicine shop
Hong Kong Customs today (April 21) arrested a salesmen of a medicine shop suspected of engaging in unfair trade practices involving a misleading omission in the course of selling Chinese herbal medicine, in contravention of the Trade Descriptions Ordinance (TDO).
A Customs officer, disguised as a customer, conducted a test-buy operation at a medicine shop in Mong Kok this afternoon. A salesman was suspected of providing untimely material information about the pricing unit of the Chinese herbal medicine. After the product was ground into powder, he revealed that the Chinese herbal medicine was priced per mace, resulting in a price difference 160 times higher compared to the expected per-catty pricing. Customs officers then arrested the 25-year-old salesman.
An investigation is ongoing and the arrested man was held for inquiry.
Customs has long been concerned about visitors being misled to make purchases by unfair trade practices and has established a Quick Response Team to handle urgent complaints lodged by short-haul visitors. The complaints will be promptly referred to investigators to handle with priority.
With the Labour Day Golden Week of the Mainland approaching, Customs will continue to step up inspections and enforcements to vigorously combat unfair trade practices.
Customs reminds traders to comply with the requirements of the TDO and consumers to purchase products from reputable shops. Consumers should also be cautious about unit prices and ask for more information, including the total price of the goods selected before making a purchase decision.
Under the TDO, any trader who engages in a commercial practice that omits or hides material information or provides material information in a manner that is unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely, and as a result causes, or is likely to cause, an average consumer to make a transactional decision, commits an offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $500,000 and imprisonment for five years.
Members of the public may report any suspected violations of the TDO to Customs' 24-hour hotline 182 8080 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk)or online form (eform.cefs.gov.hk/form/ced002).
Source: AI-found images
DH and HA follow up on suspected case of unauthorised access to patients' medical records by doctor undergoing specialty training while conducting clinical research
The Department of Health (DH) and the Hospital Authority (HA) announced today (April 21) that a doctor deployed from the HA to the DH for specialty training was suspected of accessing medical records of patients without authorisation while conducting clinical research. The patients concerned were not under the doctor's direct care.
The DH previously received an enquiry from a member of the public regarding access to electronic health records (eHRs) and launched an investigation. The DH found that, in March this year, a doctor undergoing specialty training accessed the medical records of patients not under the doctor's direct care without authorisation through the clinical information management system of the Social Hygiene Clinics and eHealth system, involving a total of 47 patients.
The doctor in question has been deployed to the DH's Social Hygiene Service since 2023, where the doctor undergoes regular training on a weekly basis, participates in clinical service and provides medical consultations to patients.
According to individual specialty College's requirements, doctors under specialty training are required to participate in research projects as part of their specialty training. It is understood that the doctor in question was conducting a clinical research project that had been approved by the HA's Institutional Review Board. The scope of the approval was limited to patients' records from public hospitals and did not cover the DH's patient records. The doctor accessed the relevant records without obtaining separate authorisation from the DH.
In response to the incident, the DH has immediately suspended the doctor's training and referred to the Police for follow up. The DH has also reported the case to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data, the Commissioner for Electronic Health Record and the HA, which employed the doctor. The DH is currently notifying the affected individuals.
According to the DH's internal guidelines, healthcare personnel must protect patient privacy and comply with the relevant laws and regulations when accessing patients' medical records. When accessing eHealth data, they must also comply with the Electronic Health System Ordinance (Cap. 625) and the relevant code of practice. Healthcare personnel must obtain prior consent from the patients and adhere to the principles of "Need to Know" and "Patient Under Care" before accessing patients' medical records through any of the DH's clinical information management systems or eHealth system. At the system level, all activities on access to eHRs stored in the eHealth system are logged for later audit and prevention of abuse.
The HA earlier received the DH's notification and learned that the DH had reported the incident to law enforcement and regulatory authorities. The HA will fully co-operate with the investigation.
"The HA believes that although this is an isolated incident related to clinical research, the procedure was inappropriate. The HA will take this matter seriously and strengthen staff training on the precautions they should take when using patient data for clinical research," an HA spokesman said.
Both the DH and the HA reiterated that they attach great importance to protecting patient privacy. There are established mechanisms to regulate staff conduct and discipline.
Source: AI-found images
