A hospital recently embroiled in controversy over assaults on five Hong Kong journalists and the city's first breast gel lawsuit, was fined 10,000 yuan (US$1,250) for hiring unqualified doctors, Shenzhen health bureau said Friday.

The health watchdog said after an initial investigation completed May 29 that the Fuhua Plastic Surgery Hospital in Luohu had hired five doctors who weren't registered with the bureau and did not possess the necessary qualifications. The hospital, which was temporarily sealed off by the bureau May 24 after the assaults, was reopened May 29, local media reported.

The hospital is in the spotlight after five of its staff members were arrested following attacks on Hong Kong journalists amid an ongoing legal dispute over the use of a banned breast gel. The health bureau said the investigation was yet to be completed, and this would also involve the local industry and commerce bureau and drug inspection authorities.

A lawsuit filed by a former female patient, who sought damages from the hospital for injecting toxic PAAG gel into her forehead during plastic surgery in 2002, is expected to be decided by the end of this month.

PAAG, or polyacrylamide gel, was banned by the national authorities at the end of April. The toxic gel is non-biodegradable and can't be absorbed into the body once injected as plastic surgery material.

(Shenzhen Daily June 5, 2006)