February 8, 2001
The Department of Health (DH) this (February 8) afternoon said a third woman who had taken a "homemade" herbal pill purportedly prescribed by a Chinese medicine practitioner in Tin Shui Wai, Yuen Long, was receiving treatment for lead intoxication in hospital and was in stable condition.
The woman was admitted into hospital last (February 7) night after the report on her blood test showed high lead level. She was one of the first persons who telephoned the DH Hotline 2961 8883 and was referred to a DH Regional Office for screening and blood test.
A second woman and three children were admitted into hospital on Monday (February 5) night for the same treatment and the four were still in hospital.
During the 24-hour period ending at 3 pm today (February 8), the DH Hotline 2961 8883 had received 75 telephone calls, bringing the total number of telephone calls received to 380.
Of the 75 callers, 18 had been referred to DH's Regional Offices for assessment and blood tests. The total number of persons who had been referred to DH's Regional Offices was 81.
The DH Hotline is manned by health care professionals from 9 am to 9 pm daily and telephone recording is available during the remaining 12 hours of a day.
The Hotline was set up on Monday (February 5) as part of the investigation by DH into a report of lead intoxication associated with the "homemade" herbal pill "Bao Ning Dan" prescribed by the Chinese medicine practitioner.