An alternative healer who advocated “slapping therapy” to treat a range of illnesses was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison for the death of a 71-year-old diabetic woman who stopped taking insulin during one of its workshops.
Hongchi Xiao, 61, was found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter for failing to get medical help for Danielle Carr-Gomm as she screamed in pain and foamed at the mouth during the fourth day from a workshop in October 2016.
Xiao, of Cloudbreak, California, promoted paida lajin therapy, requiring patients to slap themselves repeatedly to remove “toxic waste” from the body. The technique has its roots in Chinese medicine, but critics say it has no scientific basis and patients are often left with bruising, bleeding — or worse.
Carr-Gomm was one of two of Xiao's patients who died.
He was extradited from Australia, where he had been convicted of manslaughter after a 6-year-old boy died when his parents stopped his insulin treatment after attending one of his workshops in Sydney.
“I regard you as dangerous even though you do not share the characteristics of most other dangerous offenders,” Judge Robert Bright said during sentencing at Winchester Crown Court.
“You knew by late afternoon of the first day that Danielle Carr-Gomm had stopped taking her insulin,” the judge said. “Plus, you made it clear to him that you support this.”
/PA
Bright said Xiao made only a “token effort” to get Carr-Gomm to take his insulin once it was too late and showed no signs of remorse as he continued to promote paya lajin in prison.
Carr-Gomm was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 1999 and was desperate for a cure that didn't involve injecting needles, said his son, Matthew.
“She always maintained a healthy lifestyle and was adamant that nothing would stop her from living a full life,” Matthew said. according to the BBC.
She researched alternative treatments and had attended a previous workshop given by Xiao in Bulgaria a few months before her death, during which she also became seriously ill after stopping her treatment.
However, she recorded a video testimony, calling Xiao a “messenger sent by God” who was “starting a revolution to give back to the people the power to heal themselves and change the entire health system.”
Wiltshire Police
The court heard Xiao said “well done” to Carr-Gomm after telling participants she had stopped taking her insulin at the week-long retreat on The BBC reported.
By the third day, Carr-Gomm was “vomiting, tired and weak, and by the evening she was screaming in pain and unable to answer questions,” prosecutor Duncan Atkinson said.
One chef who wanted to call an ambulance said she deferred to those with holistic healing experience.
“Those who had received and accepted the defendant's teachings misinterpreted Ms. Carr-Gomm's condition as a healing crisis,” Atkinson said.
The BBC reported that during Xiao's sentencing on Friday, Bright said: “You praised her. [Danielle] when you found out she stopped taking insulin. You failed to call for emergency medical care when you, of all people, knew she was at risk of dying without insulin. I believe you will continue to practice it. There is a risk that you are actively or tacitly encouraging your subscribers to reduce their medications. »
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