Parents sue Sanlu's partner

Four mainland parents of babies who fell victim to melamine-laced milk powder produced by Sanlu Diary Group have filed a claim in the Small Claims Tribunal against a Hong Kong branch of the New Zealand company Fonterra Co-operative Group (FCG).

The parents accused FCG, which held a 43 percent stake in the now bankrupt Sanlu, of knowing of melamine contamination six weeks before the milk powder scandal was made public. The plaintiffs are demanding 12,000 to 33,000 yuan damages. But FCG argued that the tribunal is not a suitable body for the case to be heard. The case was adjourned to May 25.

Teacher jailed for kissing student

A 41-year-old teacher has been sentenced to 21 months in prison for kissing an underage student and then threatening her after the matter was exposed.

Cheung Yiu-ming was earlier found guilty at the Kowloon City Magistrates Court of three counts of indecent assault and one count of committing an act tending and intended to pervert the course of public justice.

The court heard that the man tried to court the 14-year-old girl and kissed her while taking her home in March and April of last year. When the girl's father discovered what had happened, Cheung threatened the girl, demanding she give a false statement to police. Cheung insisted on his innocence throughout the trial, claiming the girl had imagined the kiss.

Deputy Magistrate Ho Wai-yang condemned Cheung for exploiting a student's trust and said he must serve a term in jail to stand as a deterrent.

No outside emergency rules

Caritas Medical Centre Chief Executive Ma Hok-cheung testified in the Coroner's Court Tuesday that the hospital has no guideline on procedures for helping emergency patients outside the hospital.

An inquest was underway into the death of Yeung Tak-cheung, who suffered a heart attack at the gate of the Sham Shui Po hospital but was kept waiting for nearly half an hour before being admitted into the hospital's emergency unit on December 20, 2008. A truck driver who drove Yeung to the hospital asked for help from a receptionist but was told to call the emergency hotline 999.

But Ma said the receptionist should have checked the situation immediately, rather than waiting before taking action.

Also testifying Tuesday was a fire department director, who said a traffic jam and the confusion about the site caused a delay in the arrival of an ambulance.

Insulin treatment cuts cancer risk

A Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) study indicates that insulin treatment may reduce cancer risk by as much as 80 percent for diabetic patients.

A team of CUHK researchers, led by Juliana Chan, director of the Hong Kong Institute of Diabetes and Obesity, analyzed around 3,000 type 2 diabetic patients with no known history of cancer between 1996 and 2005. After a follow-up period of five years, five of every 100 patients had developed cancer each year. By contrast, in patients treated with insulin, only 1 developed cancer each year from among 100 patients. The study was published in the leading journal Diabetes.

Data from the Hong Kong Diabetes Registry, which has records of more than 10,000 people with diabetes, showed that more than 20 percent of people with diabetes died of cancer.

China Daily

(HK Edition 05/05/2010 page1)