|
Sun-Hoo Foo,M.D., Raymond Fong, M.D.
As a direct result of the publishing of Medical Menace on June 25, 1996, members of the media and the government have recently paid a tremendously significant amount of attention to the medical charlatans preying and inflicting serious harm on the New York City Chinese immigrant community. The four-part, Daily News special series by Molly Gordy exposed the medical hucksters as a growing public health menace, and posing as doctors and providing dangerous treatment under clearly unsafe conditions, sometimes even operations that they were obviously incapable and unequipped to perform. The articles contained horrible stories of human wreckage including a face disfigured, a finger lost, and a spine destroyed; they detailed chilling accounts of brain damage caused by a herbal tonic laced with poison, a nearly fatal botched abortion and a convicted felon once accused of sex abuse pressing spurious treatment on a woman.
Within days, the government reacted to the information presented in the articles. The Office of Consumer Affairs issued 27 fines and the Health Department and District Attorney, receiving over 100 complaints as a result of the Daily News exposure, opened 65 investigations. State Senator Roy Goodman held a special hearing on June 27,1996 to collect information for possible legislation that would make the practice of medicine without a license a D felony, thus requiring a minimal sentence of one year in prison and financial compensation up to $100,000 to be paid to the victims. The proposal will also allow district attorneys to handle these cases, which are currently under the jurisdiction of state attorneys.
These actions were truly appreciated. Witnessed and alarmed by the increasing range of victims suffering from the hands of unlicensed practitioners, the Chinese American Medical Society (CAMS) had already sent delegates to the NY State Education Department licensing division almost a year and a half before these articles were written. These representatives met with the supervising investigator on January 26,1995 and presented case studies of victims and false newspaper advertisements. At the time, the state explained that it could not help since state resources are limited and it lacked the staff to address this issue. The problem addressed in Medical Menace is not unique to NY City or to the Chinese immigrant population; it is a universal problem involving all immigrant communities, areas filled with vulnerable people who need skilled medical care and are easy prey to false "cures." We urge you, our colleagues in other cities, to study the NYC experience. We hope that the arffcles will help you to make this serious problem known to the govemment, the media and, most importantly, the general public and to motivate improvement of your communities through the elimination of the intentional victimization of immigrants and other susceptible individuals.
The board of CAMS would like to stress that they are concerned about the welfare of the Chinese community. Their involvement is not an attack on alternative medicine or acupuncture. They object to people practicing Western Medicine without a license, those who have never received any medical training but pose as doctors, prey on only unsuspecting victims, and cause these individuals not only financial loss but also their health and their lives.
Further Information:
|