Sinseh stuck spoon into my nose: Woman

A Malaysian man had to have both his kidneys removed after an alleged botched treatment by a sinseh (traditional Chinese medicine practitioner).

Now a woman has come forward to complain that her visit to the same sinseh resulted in neck injuries.

The New Paper earlier reported that Mr Wong Kim Min, 47,had gone to see the sinseh, known only as Dr Lau.

Instead of fixing his kidney problem, the sinseh's unconventional treatment, which involved piercing at least 60 needles into his head and body, allegedly resulted in Mr Wong needing to have two kidneys removed at a Kuala Lumpur hospital after blood clots formed near his urinary tract.

Now 72-year-old retiree Madam Zhou, who approached the Malaysia Chinese Association to file her complaint, claims she suffered neck injuries as a result of seeing Dr Lau for treatment.

She saw him to treat arthritis in her right leg.

Dr Lau started massaging her neck, but the excessive force he used caused her to scream out in pain.

Bleeding from spoons in the nose

Bleeding

Madam Zhou said: "After the massage, Dr Lau inserted the handle of a spoon into both my nostrils, which resulted in bleeding in my right nostril.

"He then went onto insert the spoon into my throat, making me feel like vomiting." After the treatment, Dr Lau gave Madam Zhou some medication.

She said that after her first visit to Dr Lau, some of the pain she usually suffered due to her arthritis was alleviated and she could squat for a minute.

But Madam Zhou started getting suspicious of Dr Lau after her second visit. He performed the same procedures on her, but her neck hurt more badly this time.

She became even more suspicions when she read about Mr Wong's case in the newspapers.

After two months of treatment with Dr Lau, the pain in her neck did not subside. Madam Zhou sought treatment at a hospital, where she was told that her neck muscles had become swollen.

Madam Zhou had paid Dr Lau RM200 (S$82) for her treatment.

She found out about him through a friend who underwent his weight-loss treatment and did seem to lose some weight.

Dr Lau said that he had performed the procedures he did on Madam Zhou on other patients before.

He claimed that he massaged the patients' necks to loosen up the muscles in their bodies.

Dangerous treatment

Dangerous treatment

Madam Zhou could count herself lucky.

In Mr Wong's case, in addition to losing both his kidneys, he also had to fork out RM30,000 (S$12,500) for the unconventional 'treatment'.

Mr Wong, who had been suffering from kidney problems for the last 10 years, decided to try out the sinseh, known only as Dr Lau.

He was introduced to Mr Wong by a friend.

Mr Wong claimed Dr Lau told him that he could treat him as “the problem was just a minor medical condition”.

The 60 needles inserted into his head and abdomen were “to flush toxins out of his body”, the sinseh said.

After two sessions, Mr Wong said he developed an infection and his abdomen became bloated for some time.

“After the first session, I suffered severe pain and developed high fever," he said.

“I called Dr Lau, but he advised me not to seek treatment at any hospital as I would be given antibiotics, which would worsen my condition.”

Mr Wong said that three days later, he returned to the sinseh for a second session, where syringes were used on him.

He said: “My situation worsened after that. I could no longer urinate.

Now he has lost both kidneys and has to undergo dialysis every two days, he claims.

He said he is allowed to drink only 300ml of water a day and that he suffers from sleeplessness and dizziness.

According to reports, a police report was filed against the sinseh on Jan 31 regarding the incident which happened last year.