Hu Wanlin the killer healer

Hu Wanlin is a healer doctor who has killed more than 140 people using Chinese medicine

The Story of Hu Wanlin

Hu Wanlin was born in 1949 in Mianyang, in China’s Sichuan province. Although he only achieved a primary school degree, he called himself a “miracle doctor” practicing medicine illegally.

In the ’80s he is convicted of fraud, kidnapping, human trafficking and murder and it is in prison that he decides to practice as a doctor, starting 1993.

In 1997, he faces another trial and he is released, allowing him to focus on selling his medicaments. These were prepared with herbs and with sodium sulfate, which, in large quantities, is poisonous.

Wanlin also thought that water was the cause of many diseases and urged his patients not to drink it, leading to dehydration.

In 1998 he was expelled by the local authorities because of the illegal practice of medicine and moved to Henan in June, continuing with his illegal activities.

In addition to herbal medicine practice, he practiced qi gong thanks to which in order to heal the patients he then does not even need to touch them, only having to transfer them his “qi”.

He called himself a “miracle doctor” and sometimes gave his diagnosis without even visiting the patient because all he needed was only to have a quick look at them for a few seconds.

The deaths

His care, however, rather than cure his patients, ended up killing them, in fact, there are about 146 deaths connected to the self-appointed doctor. The police, however, could only prove three of them with certainty.

In 1999 he was arrested again and sentenced to only 15 years in prison, term he would only serve partially.

This could happen because in China, at the time, there was no licensing system for doctors, system which was introduced thanks to this case.

This country has a great tradition of herbal medicine, but the reputation of Hu Wanlin, who claimed he could cure cancer and AIDS, is also due to China’s health care system.

Not everyone can afford health insurance, finding themselves forced to fall back on less expensive methods, but, alas, less effective and in some cases lethal.

Update

Sadly Hu Wanlin’s story did not end there. Thanks to a sentence reduction he was released in December 2011 and immediately started presenting himself again as an “omnipotent doctor”, surrounding himself with disciples who promoted him online as a master able to cure diabetes and AIDS.

In August 2013 he and his followers took twelve “patients” to a hotel in Xin’an County, Henan province, for a “health programme”. One of them, Yun Xuyang, a 22-year-old university student devoted to traditional Chinese medicine, died of dehydration after drinking a solution of Glauber’s salt.

At the trial Hu pleaded not guilty: “I don’t know what illegal medical practice is and it is not important whether I have a doctor’s license or not. I just want to save people.” On 19 November 2014, aged 65, he was sentenced for the third time to 15 years in prison and fined 200,000 yuan.

Sources

• China Daily, Chinese quack doctor gets 15 years over student’s death
• South China Morning Post, Quack doctor freed from prison, jailed after killing again
• Shanghai Daily, Quack back in jail for 3rd time for student’s death
• Crime Library, Angels of Death: The Male Nurses