SINGAPORE: Hoping to ease the pain in her shoulder, a 54-year-old woman soughtTraditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) treatment at Raffles Chinese Medicine, a unit of Raffles Medical Group.

Instead, she was left with third-degree burns on her arm and will now receive S$50,000 in damages.

The woman, a finance and human resources director who wanted to be known only as Ms Tan, said she first visited the clinic early last year. After receiving four or five acupuncture sessions with no improvement to her condition, her physician suggested a treatment called moxibustionin April.

Moxibustion involves the burning of a spongy herb called mugwort on or near the skin. In Ms Tan's case, a mildly heated container was strapped to her arm and heat-generating bulbs were focused towards her left arm.

According to court documents, the physician, Jin Jinhua, assured her that the treatment was risk-free.

THIRD-DEGREE BURNS, PAINFUL BLISTERS

Recounting the incident, Ms Tan said Ms Jin left the room shortly after setting up the treatment and estimated that she was left alone for about 15 minutes.

It was very hot, and I was in pain. I tried to flip the container off but because of the position I was in, I couldnt. And there was a rattling sound so I was afraid I might accidentally cause the place to catch fire," Ms Tan told Channel NewsAsia.

When Ms Jin returned, she appeared alarmed that blisters had formed on Ms Tans arm, according to court documents.

Ms Tan said the physician apologised for forgetting to leave a bell behind, in case she needed help. Using an acupuncture needle,Ms Jin burst the blisters and bandaged the area, saying that it was likely to subside.

Ms Tan said that the pain of the blister was unbearable when she got home. It was swollen with fluid. She called a dermatologist friend who gave her instructions to relieve the pain. She later consulted a plastic surgeon and an aesthetic doctor, and was told that she had suffered third-degree burns. Ms Tan has since spent more than S$4,000 on treatment.

When Ms Tan approached the clinic unrepresented in September last year, she was offered S$14,400 in compensation by Raffles Chinese Medicine. But she decided to engage lawyer Raj Singh Shergill in October, after reading a newspaper article of a similar case.

The physician and Ms Tan eventually came to a private settlement of S$50,000 in costs, expenses and damages, which Ms Tan accepted on May 19 this year.

A spokesman for Raffles Chinese Medicine said: The settlement agreement was negotiated independently by the physician with the patient directly. As part of the settlement agreement, the patient released Raffles Chinese Medicine from liability.

The spokesman added thatRaffles Chinese Medicine has protocols in place which are "constantly reinforced" to its physicians.

According to court documents, Ms Jin had been fined and censured by the TCM Practitioners Board in 2015 for having acted improperly, negligently and beyond her permitted area of expertise. This was when she was working for Raffles Chinese Medicine but continued to be employed by the clinic. Raffles Chinese Medicine said Ms Jin left shortly after the incident last year involving Ms Tan.

PREVIOUS CASE OF MOXIBUSTIONGONE WRONG

In a separate case of moxibustion treatment gone wrong, a 70-year-old woman suffered third-degree burns on both legs in 2014, after getting the procedure atAnnie Tiang TCM Clinic in East Coast Road.

The patient,Chow See Mui, was also represented by Mr Singh and was awarded S$50,000 in damages.

Madam Chow, who had minor aches before the treatment, ended up in hospital for a month with a S$95,000 bill, which she managed to claim fully from her insurance company. In her lawsuit, Madam Chow said she felt extreme pain during the TCM treatment but was told to bear with it as the treatment was harmless and that the pain would subside shortly.

HOW EFFECTIVE IS MOXIBUSTION?

According to Ms Tjioe Yan Yin, a TCM physician at Nanyang Technological University's Chinese Medicine Clinic,moxibustion - when done right - can relieve pain from ailments such as rheumatism.

She explained that in direct moxibustion, the dried herb is rolled into the shape of a cone or cylinder and placed on the skin. The end that is not touching the skin is burnt, and the herb needs to be removed before the burning portion touches the skin. In indirect moxibustion, the moxa cone is kept about 3 to 4cm away from the skin to prevent burns.

"Direct moxibustion will definitely cause burns," said Ms Tjioe. "Some people accept it because they believe that burning stimulates the blood. They expect the burn to recover."

She added that while indirect moxibustion is widely accepted and used, the direct treatment is not common.

Nevertheless, Ms Tan said her experience at Raffles Chinese Medicine showed that the public should be "made aware of the high risks of such treatments, even if it is done in a reputable hospital".

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Woman suffers third-degree burns after TCM treatment at Raffles Chinese Medicine - Channel NewsAsia