THE death of a farmer has prompted a Coroner's jury to call on the Government to impose strict controls on Chinese medicine.
The jury made the recommendation in the case of Choi Mei-to, 54, who died about 10 hours after he took a potion of Chinese herbs prescribed by Chinese herbalist Lee Tai-wah in Yuen Long to cure his chest pains on October 1, 1992.
Thirty minutes after he took the herbs at his home, Choi started vomiting and convulsing.
He was sent to Pok Oi Hospital in the afternoon and died at 9.15 pm.
While returning a verdict of death by misadventure, the jurors agreed on a balance of probability that the cause of death was aconite plant poisoning.
This was despite a forensic pathologist's finding that the medical cause of death was adverse effects of phenytoin (an anti-convulsion drug used for heart rhythm disorders).
A medical expert said the herb prescription sheet included three items of aconite.