Beware The Charlatans Of China.
Twenty Malaysians have died this year seeking 'miracle' treatments in China for their terminal illnesses, after being misled by unscrupulous agents. The patients paid the agents for a lifeline, but to no avail.
Unfortunately, the number of cases of China-bound patients being given false hopes of a cure for ailments, such as cancer and kidney disease, was rising, said Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek. "Don’t be naive. If the cancer cannot be treated here, it also cannot be treated abroad," he said.
**** Dr Chua knows what he is talking about. But who is willing to listen to the voice of knowledge and reason? It's not just the average Malaysian but also the highly educated ones who fall prey to the demons in human form out to make money from man's sorrow and misery. Malaysians are a strange and funny lot. The Malays, Chinese, Indians and others. Despite knowing that there is no avenue left in certain medical conditions except for divine intervention or some slim hope offered by the conventional Western medical system of practice, they will sometimes spend a fortune on all sorts of magical, mystical remedies which often belie logic.
Taking full advantage of this weakness the charlatans and their middlemen make whopping fortunes from the sick and diseased. The greatest number of such frauds originate from China, the land which has given the world many brilliant as well as criminal minds. The Chinese here especially the less-educated, can be excused for thinking that the 'motherland' has cures and remedies for every and all illnesses. The over-exaggerated word of mouth testaments, the illogical media hype in the vernacular papers and the patently false claims by criminally culpable fraudsters all combine to convince the desperately ill and their families to sink small fortunes often to the serious detriment of the patient.
I myself have seen some victims of these cheats from China. The wife of a retail shop proprietor whom I know and from whose shop I make my regular purchases, an extraordinarily pretty woman, was diagnosed with terminal cancer several years ago. After painful surgery, chemo and radiotherapy she was sent home to await the results of the treatment. Into their lives entered a 'miracle healer' from China who in the pretext of healing her cancer used all sorts of external chemicals on the enlarged lymph nodes on her body thereby disfiguring that pretty woman beyond almost all recognition at the time of her death.
This blind belief by the local Chinese that China has magic cures and physicians who can do the impossible is the main reason why these charlatans literally make a killing. Going around temple after temple praying and begging for God's providence is one thing but exposing yourself to the knives and potions of unqualified quacks is sheer foolishness.
Unfortunately, the number of cases of China-bound patients being given false hopes of a cure for ailments, such as cancer and kidney disease, was rising, said Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek. "Don’t be naive. If the cancer cannot be treated here, it also cannot be treated abroad," he said.
**** Dr Chua knows what he is talking about. But who is willing to listen to the voice of knowledge and reason? It's not just the average Malaysian but also the highly educated ones who fall prey to the demons in human form out to make money from man's sorrow and misery. Malaysians are a strange and funny lot. The Malays, Chinese, Indians and others. Despite knowing that there is no avenue left in certain medical conditions except for divine intervention or some slim hope offered by the conventional Western medical system of practice, they will sometimes spend a fortune on all sorts of magical, mystical remedies which often belie logic.
Taking full advantage of this weakness the charlatans and their middlemen make whopping fortunes from the sick and diseased. The greatest number of such frauds originate from China, the land which has given the world many brilliant as well as criminal minds. The Chinese here especially the less-educated, can be excused for thinking that the 'motherland' has cures and remedies for every and all illnesses. The over-exaggerated word of mouth testaments, the illogical media hype in the vernacular papers and the patently false claims by criminally culpable fraudsters all combine to convince the desperately ill and their families to sink small fortunes often to the serious detriment of the patient.
I myself have seen some victims of these cheats from China. The wife of a retail shop proprietor whom I know and from whose shop I make my regular purchases, an extraordinarily pretty woman, was diagnosed with terminal cancer several years ago. After painful surgery, chemo and radiotherapy she was sent home to await the results of the treatment. Into their lives entered a 'miracle healer' from China who in the pretext of healing her cancer used all sorts of external chemicals on the enlarged lymph nodes on her body thereby disfiguring that pretty woman beyond almost all recognition at the time of her death.
This blind belief by the local Chinese that China has magic cures and physicians who can do the impossible is the main reason why these charlatans literally make a killing. Going around temple after temple praying and begging for God's providence is one thing but exposing yourself to the knives and potions of unqualified quacks is sheer foolishness.
posted by The Malaysian. at 11/01/2006 06:52:00 PM
1 Comments:
Dude, I encountered similar medical fraudsters as part of a China tour package I went on last year. They were dressed in white coats and just wanted to sell you miracle creams and lotions.
Sadly, when people are terminally ill they'll try anything.
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