Alternative Medicine

Patricia Booth, a British civil servant was in the Old Bailey yesterday in a bid to prove that Chinese medicine ruined her life. She was in her mid-40's when she visited a Chinese herbalist in 1997. She was in good health and had a very successful job but she had spots on her face and traditional medicine had failed her. The conventional doctor's answer to her problem was long-term anti-biotics and she was naturally looking for a healthy alternative. That alternative resulted in kidney failure and cancer.


She took the medicine from Chinese Herbal Medical Centre in Chelmsford, Essex for five and a half years. They advertised their remedies as 'safe and natural without any side effects'.


In February 1997 she and her husband visited the premises for a consultation. She was taken to a room where an elderly Chinese man was introduced to her as a doctor. She was given herbs to boil up and drink but the taste was so 'horrible', she went back and was given some pills instead. This time she didn't see the elderly 'doctor' but met a Mr Wu. And this is where her common sense should have kicked in - Mr Wu told her to take a cap-full - about 30 pills - three times a day. Hello? Here's an intelligent woman in charge of a large government department, who didn't think that this doseage was excessive? She returned to the shop every 10 days or so, buying two or three bottles from Susan Wu with the dose decreasing over time. She took them for five and a half years without a second thought because her spots cleared up completely.


Five years later in 1992. she wasn't feeling well and hadn't been for some time. In 2003 she went for a blood test which showed she was suffering from chronic long-term kidney failure and she had to start dialysis in 2003. When she was put on the list for a kidney transplant, she developed cancer and had to have major surgery to remove her uninary tract and kidneys.


The trial continues. There is a need and acceptance of alternative medicine and it is firmly entrenched in our society today but this case is a warning to many who wouldn't think twice about taking medicine from someone with no medical qualifications.


Be careful out there, this is too high a price to pay for a few spots.