Quack doctor freed from prison, jailed after killing again
A quack doctor who believes water causes disease and has had at least 16 patients die from his treatment was released early from prison only to kill again.
A quack doctor who believes water causes disease and has had at least 16 patients die from his treatment was released early from prison only to kill again, state-run media reported on Thursday.
Hu Wanlin, who claimed to be an “omnipotent doctor” but dehydrated a man to death, was sentenced on Wednesday to 15 years in prison for illegally practicing medicine, the state-run Global Times said.
Hu, 65, began his so-called healing activities while serving a life sentence for killing a businessman, but was stopped in 1996 after 13 of his patients died, according to reports.
He was freed, but jailed again in 2000 for illegally practicing medicine after three more patient deaths, including the then mayor of Luohe city in Henan.
On that occasion Hu was sentenced to 15 years, but he was again given his freedom early, the newspaper said, and mounted a “health retreat” for 12 “patients” last year.
“A 22-year-old college student Yun Xuyang, a devotee of traditional Chinese medicine, died after taking a substance provided by Hu at the event, Xinhua reported.
Hu theorised that all diseases are caused by water, and patients needed to be dehydrated with a “magic medicine” using powerful salts, the newspaper said.