Landlord of quack clinic faces charge

NST: KUALA LUMPUR: For the first time, the owner of a building used by a quack clinic is to be charged under the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998.
The traditional medical practitioner in Shah Alam had given illegal treatments and is still at large since his clinic was raided last year.
The owner, a businessman in his fifties, will be charged in the magistrate’s court in Shah Alam today for allowing the practitioner to use his premises for an unlawful trade.
Health Ministry medical practices director Dr Mohd Khairy Yaacob said investigations showed that the practitioner had been running his business without a licence.
If the owner pleads guilty, he is liable to a maximum fine of RM300,000 or six years’ jail, or both. If the owner pleads not guilty, the activities of the practitioner will be brought up during court proceedings.
It was reported in October last year that the practitioner removed kidney stones, tumours, ovarian cysts and other diseased body parts.
The man had been operating the clinic for more than 10 years, performing surgeries on the well-heeled and foreigners.
Upon receiving a complaint, Selangor health officers visited the clinic on Sept 27 last year and were shocked to see the "doctor" attending to patients in a hospital setting, surrounded by equipment, models of the human skeleton, posters and medical books.
Health Ministry officers raided the clinic on Oct 11 and seized surgical and other equipment. The practitioner fled before the officers arrived.
The "doctor" had charged his patients between RM350 and RM4,000. He also offered traditional cures. A man who had sought treatment from the "doctor" last September for stones in his kidney claimed that he did a competent job. The man paid RM4,000 for the operation.
He also said during the operation, he did not feel any pain although he was cut open. The "doctor" did not use anaesthetic.
He claimed that the incision was closed without stitching and the scar disappeared a few days later.
Director-general of health Tan Sri Dr Mohd Ismail Merican had confirmed that the "doctor" was only a registered traditional medical practitioner.
He said the ministry had to act against an illegal practice and an offender who was not qualified to perform surgery.