Doctor convicted of manslaughter in "Latin dance Lady Gaga" case

A doctor who performed liposuction on a 32-year-old latin dance instructor dubbed “Lady Gaga of the dancing scene” was convicted of manslaughter.

Vanessa Kwan Hau-chi, 38, pleaded not guilty to a count of manslaughter in connection to the death of Josephine Lee Kar-ying, 32, on June 26, 2014. The dancer died after Kwan performed liposuction on the dancer's back at Regrowth Hair Transplant Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui.

The seven-member jury unanimously convicted the doctor of manslaughter after eight hours of deliberation.

Kwan will be remanded until her sentencing on September 3. She should expect imprisonment, judge Susana D'Almada Remedios said. 

The trial has gone on for 29 days in High Court. The judge finished guiding the seven-member jury this morning, and the jury retired at 10.10am.

The prosecution told the court earlier that it was Lee's second liposuction treatment and was expected to last three hours. Kwan was the only one in the surgery room who was qualified to conduct the operation.

Kwan left the operation room after the liposuction ended and before Lee regained consciousness from the sedation.

About an hour after she left, one of her assistants found that Lee's snoring had reduced, her breathing was weak and her face was pale. Kwan then returned to the surgical room four minutes later and instructed staff to call police for help.

She did not perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Lee, and failed to take reasonable care of the patient's safety.

Kwan failed to ensure a qualified person had monitored and administered the sedation, as well as to sufficiently monitor the patient after her liposuction procedure.

Lee was unconscious during the treatment and was pronounced dead at Queen Elizabeth Hospital about an hour after she was sent there.

Lee's family described the ruling as justice overdue, as the case dragged on for seven years. 

When Lee died, her daughter was only nine-month-old.Her husband has been shouldering the responsibility to raise her, and hopes the daughter, now 7, can grow up healthily and happily, according to lawmaker Alice Mak Mei-kuen who assisted the family.