Hong Kong court sentences beauty centre manager to 4 months in jail after pleading guilty to illegally injecting Botox into 3 women
Acting principal magistrate Ko Wai-hung heard that a former employee of the beauty centre recommended Zhang to two of her friends via social media between October and November in 2022.
Ko ordered Zhang to serve all three charges concurrently, adding the case was “very serious” as all three women had experienced adverse side effects.
Hong Kong police arrest 2 women over illegal Botox injections
“The court has to send a clear message to the public that all medical treatments must be administered by a registered document, especially for those invasive injections,” he said.
“Custodial sentence is therefore an inevitable punishment.”
The court also heard that the victims paid a range of HK$1,500 (US$192) to HK$3,000 for the botulinum toxin injections, commonly known as Botox.
One woman was injected in her calves and shoulders twice, while another went for a face-slimming treatment and received three injections on each side of her cheeks.
Dizziness, dysphonia, limb weakness, girdle weakness, breathing difficulty, swollen face and urinary incontinence were among the symptoms they complained of days after the treatment.
The third victim, who went for a brow tattoo on November 10 but agreed to receive an additional face-slimming Botox treatment, also experienced similar symptoms a week after.
All three required hospital treatment. Medical reports showed that the third victim had suffered facial nerve damage.
Police arrested Zhang on December 1 that year and found glass bottles containing local anaesthetic and adrenaline in her Jordan office.
Hong Kong doctor among 4 arrested over botched Botox injections
She was initially charged with an additional count of possession of unregistered pharmaceutical products, or Part I poisons, but the prosecution on Wednesday agreed to withdraw it.
In mitigation, Zhang said she never claimed to be a doctor and the centre was set up by her and another partner a month before these incidents took place.
Her counsel said Zhang had “learned her lesson” and intended to quit the beauty industry and return to mainland China after serving her time.
The other defendant will attend another hearing on April 16 before trial.