An unlicensed acupuncturist faces criminal charges after a 63-year-old woman’s lung collapsed while walking home after receiving treatment from the acupuncturist at his Flushing office, authorities said.
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz charged Yong De Lin, 66, with four counts of reckless endangerment, unauthorized professional conduct, and first- and second-degree assault. .
“The difference between receiving medical care from a competent, licensed professional and an unlicensed professional can be the difference between life and death,” Katz said in a news release announcing the charges. said. She said Lin never even applied for the required state license.
Acupuncture, a common practice in Chinese medicine, involves inserting needles into the skin to relieve chronic pain. To obtain a license in New York, a professional must complete over 4,000 hours of training through New York educational institutions. 650 of these hours require supervised clinical experience.
Dr. Beth Nugent, president of the New York Acupuncture Association, said that without proper training and licensure, acupuncturists may lack knowledge about how to use needles and how deep they should go.
“People who attempt to perform acupuncture under another license, or without a license at all, may puncture a lung, perforate an artery, damage muscle tissue, or damage a nerve. “There is a risk of giving away,” Nugent said.
Lynn worked at a clinic in Flushing. According to a statement from the district attorney’s office, the victim received 17 acupuncture treatments from Lin between May 10 and October 28 last year.
The victim initially sought treatment to relieve abdominal and back pain. Prosecutors said she felt short of breath on her way home from her appointment and collapsed on the sidewalk.
She underwent emergency life-saving surgery and was hospitalized for six days, prosecutors said.
A 2013 study published in the Journal of Thoracic Disease found that lung collapse, although rarely reported, was the most common serious complication after acupuncture. Nugent said acupuncturists need specialized anatomical knowledge of where the sacs containing the lungs are located.
“It’s kind of like a balloon,” Nugent said. “If you break it, what’s inside deflates, making it very difficult to breathe.”
Nugent said English proficiency can be a barrier to entry for those seeking an acupuncture license in New York. The New York State Department of Education requires acupuncturists to demonstrate English proficiency through exams or post-secondary study. Lin’s attorney, Kathleen Gallo, said her client does not speak English.
Gallo said his client was arraigned via a virtual interpreter because there was no Chinese interpreter in the building. Mr. Gallo said that was “unhelpful” and meant he could not speak privately with his client during the litigation.
The case will return to court tomorrow, and Gallo said he plans to learn about Lin’s connections to the community so he can make an appropriate bail application.
Lin is being held on $50,000 bail. If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to 25 years in prison.
Katz urges other victims of Lin’s actions to contact her office’s Elder Fraud Unit.
