12 NEWS
Get evidence-based resources to support your conversations
12 NEWS
8 DECEMBER 2023 ausdoc . com . au
Acupuncturist punctures lung
Carmel Sparke A CHINESE medicine practitioner who punctured a woman ’ s lung with an acupuncture needle was not registered to practise , a tribunal has heard .
Gyu Hyuk Han had been left in charge of a Sydney Chinese medicine clinic when the 32-year-old patient presented with back pain .
Mr Han , who had once been registered to prescribe and dispense Chinese herbal medicines and perform acupuncture , had been explicitly told by the owner of the clinic he was not to treat patients .
But he decided to offer the woman acupuncture and massage because his “ compassion for the patient went overboard ”, the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal heard .
It was during the third consultation , in March 2022 , that he punctured her lung .
“ When the practitioner inserted an acupuncture needle , the patient screamed . She was in pain ,” the tribunal wrote .
“[ The patient ] told Mr Han to stop and / or said that it hurt too much and / or said , ‘ I don ’ t want this anymore .’
“ She started to cry , and the practitioner said words to the effect that the pain was because her body was tense .” he ‘ felt like treating her ’ and so booked her in .”
While he expressed remorse for treating her without the required registration , he claimed he was compelled to treat her because she was experiencing chronic pain , but his “ compassion for the patient went overboard ”.
“ He also said that he considered he had the sufficient clinical skills and training ,” the tribunal added .
“ This is despite also acknowledging that he had never had the requisite supervised clinical practice in both acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine .”
The tribunal found Mr Han guilty of professional misconduct and banned him from applying for registration for 12 months .
It stressed that he would have been disqualified if he had been registered .
Better immunisation conversations start with listening
She screamed when Mr Han inserted the acupuncture needle .
Mr Han removed the needle but left the others in place for 15 minutes before massaging the patient . Later that day , she called Mr Han saying she was in pain when she breathed and that her back was uncomfortable on breathing . When the practitioner suggested applying a heat pack to her back , she queried the advice as she was experiencing “ chest pain and not an ache ”.
“ Sometime after the phone call , [ the patient ] messaged the practitioner that she was in a lot of pain and was going to go to emergency ,” the tribunal wrote .
The next day at Concord Hospital ED , she was diagnosed with a 2.5cm pneumothorax .
Mr Han had been registered to perform acupuncture back in 2015 but , a few years later , changed this to non-practising registration .
In early 2022 , after returning to Australia , he began working as a trainee and clinic assistant at the Sydney Chinese medicine clinic .
He did not have professional indemnity insurance at the time .
He admitted he knew he should not be treating the woman and that she was unaware he was not registered .
“ Mr Han acknowledged that he could have referred her to see a registered practitioner but that
PARENT :
Get evidence-based resources to support your conversations
SKAI is a National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance ( NCIRS ) led collaboration