He treated his patients with slaps: a diabetic died from it, the self-proclaimed doctor knew her fate on Tuesday

He organized “slap therapies” to treat his patients. (ILLUSTRATION) Midi Libre – VINCENT ANDORRA

This Tuesday, October 1, 2024, Hongchi Xiao, a 61-year-old American, is being tried for involuntary manslaughter after the death of a woman who had participated in the defendant's alternative medicine sessions. The British justice system will rule on his sentence during the day.

An American promoter of alternative medicine techniques involving slapping sessions was found guilty last July in the United Kingdom of manslaughter by negligence after the death of a participant who had stopped taking her insulin.

The sentence of Hongchi Xiao, 61, who has already been convicted in Australia in a similar case after the death of a six-year-old child, will be pronounced today, Tuesday, October 1.

The practice of “paida lajin”

Danielle Carr-Gomm, a 71-year-old British woman who was born and raised in France, died on October 20, 2016, from a diabetic ketoacidosis attack caused by a complication of her diabetes.

The alternative medicine enthusiast was attending a course in a hotel in rural western England that was supposed to help her treat her illness, involving the practice known as “paida lajin”. The latter is presented by its promoters as a Chinese practice combining slapping and stretching, aimed at treating many health problems.

The accusation accuses Hongchi Xiao, organizer of the course, of not having taken the necessary measures to ensure that Danielle Carr-Gomm received adequate care when she suffered this crisis.

Already convicted in Australia

At the trial, held at Winchester Crown Court, prosecutor Duncan Atkinson argued that the defendant knew the victim was at risk of dying “and he knew he had influence over her decision”.  “He chose to congratulate a diabetic who had stopped her injections", rather than dissuade her from “taking a serious risk to her life".

Pleading not guilty, the defendant insisted at the trial that "never" he would convince a diabetic patient not to take his insulin. He had explained that he was not “entirely against medicine”, but was concerned about the “side effects” of medicine.

Hongchi Xiao was sentenced in Australia in 2023 to nine and a half years in prison for the death of a six-year-old child whose parents, clients of his “therapies”, had stopped giving him insulin. He was extradited to the United Kingdom in November 2023.

According to the biography that accompanies books about his practice, after working in finance, Hongchi Xiao, who was born in China, founded an institute in California promoting his alternative medicine techniques. He has promoted his techniques at conferences and workshops around the world.