Monk jailed after homemade medicinal liquor kills woman

Xinhua, March 9, 2012

The abbot of a Buddhist temple has been sentenced to 10 years in prison in Beijing after a female patient died from a homemade "medicinal liquor" provided as a treatment by the monk, a local court announced Thursday.

The monk, surnamed Yu, began acting as abbot of the temple in a village in Changping district in the northern suburbs of Beijing two years ago, according to a spokesman with the district court.

In addition to advocating Buddhist doctrines, Yu had been using a self-made "medicinal liquor" to cure patients, claiming it was made of different traditional Chinese medicines according to an "ancestral secret recipe," the spokesman said.

A 25-year-old female patient, surnamed Zhang, went to the temple in March last year to seek medical help from Yu. The monk gave the woman his "medicinal liquor" to cure her rheumatism, but Zhang died in July after she showed symptoms of poisoning, the spokesman said.

Forensic doctors found that Zhang had died from an aconitine substance found in the "medicinal liquor," he said.

Prosecutors found that Yu had not obtained a permit to practice medicine, and the monk was jailed after being found guilty of illegally practicing medicine, he said.

Yu confessed to his crimes and it was not clear whether he would lodge an appeal.