Woman, boy die after alternative healer tells diabetics to stop taking insulin

LONDON (WKRC) – An alternative healer was found guilty of manslaughter after encouraging diabetics to stop taking insulin at his workshops.

A 61-year-old alternative healer, Hongchi Xiao, has been sentenced to ten years in prison after being convicted of manslaughter by gross negligence in a London court. The conviction follows the deaths of two individuals linked to Xiao’s controversial slap therapy workshops, which claim to remove “poisonous waste” from the body, according to PEOPLE.

Danielle Carr-Gomm, a 71-year-old diabetic, died after attending one of Xiao’s workshops in 2016. During the workshop, Carr-Gomm stopped taking her insulin, a decision Xiao reportedly praised, according to the BBC. The prosecutor said that by the third day of the workshop, Carr-Gomm was “vomiting, tired and weak, and by the evening she was howling in pain and unable to respond to questions.”

Carr-Gomm’s death marks the second fatality associated with Xiao’s workshops. In 2015, a 6-year-old boy in Australia died after his parents ceased administering insulin following Xiao’s instructions, The Guardian reported. Xiao was previously convicted of manslaughter in Sydney for the boy’s death.

The practice, known as Paida Lajin, involves slapping the skin and stretching, often leaving participants bruised and marked, The Independent explained.

At his sentencing, Justice Bright expressed concern over Xiao’s continued belief in the practice.

“You congratulated [Carr-Gomm] when you found out she had stopped taking insulin,” Justice Bright said, according to the BBC. “You failed to summon emergency medical care when you of all people knew she was likely to die without insulin. I believe you will continue to practice it. There is a risk you will actively or tacitly encourage followers to reduce their medication.”

“I’m concerned history may repeat itself and this presents a risk to the public. In this specific regard I consider you dangerous.”

Xiao has compared himself to a political prisoner, claiming that slap therapy “is totally beyond the imagination of the media and the experts,” The Guardian reports.

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