New Taipei fortune teller cleared of illegal medical practice charges for head/foot touching and capsule distribution

(Central News Agency, Taipei, June 23) A New Taipei fortune teller, Mr. Ye, was accused of conducting medical consultations, pulse-taking, and distributing Chinese medicine capsules while practicing fortune-telling, allegedly violating the Physician Act. However, the court found that Mr. Ye's touching of clients' heads and feet and the content of his readings were different from traditional medical practices, and the capsules did not contain Western medicine ingredients. He was recently acquitted.

The New Taipei District Prosecutors Office stated that Mr. Ye, who does not possess a legal physician or traditional Chinese medicine practitioner license, engaged in fortune-telling at his residence in Sanxia District, New Taipei City. During these sessions, he also conducted consultations, took pulses, performed physical examinations, issued diagnostic reports, and distributed medications. On December 25, 2024, the New Taipei City Department of Health conducted an inspection and discovered a large quantity of Chinese medicine capsules and diagnostic receipts. The prosecution indicted Mr. Ye for illegally practicing medicine, in violation of the Physician Act.

According to the New Taipei District Court's ruling, Mr. Ye admitted to touching clients' bodies and distributing Chinese medicine capsules called "Er Bao" and pills called "San Bao," but denied illegally practicing medicine. He emphasized that touching people's heads and feet was to determine if they were influenced by spirits, ghosts, or ancestors, and was absolutely not pulse-taking. He also stated that the distributed capsules and pills were merely herbal health supplements provided based on an analysis of the client's five-element deficiencies according to the I Ching and Bagua, and were not medications.

Upon reviewing the testimonies of three customers who had visited Mr. Ye's residence, all three confirmed that they sought Mr. Ye for fortune-telling and divination, not for medical treatment. One customer stated that the NT$3,600 paid was for fortune-telling services, not for consultation or medical fees.

The collegiate bench found that the way Mr. Ye touched clients' bodies, including sensing the top of the head, touching the temples, wrists, forearms, lower legs, and ankles, was for the purpose of analyzing fate and checking luck, which is clearly different from the pulse-taking diagnosis in traditional Chinese medicine. Furthermore, the content of Mr. Ye's readings, such as "prone to internal heat, prone to catching a cold," consisted of uncertain phrases that were essentially inferences and warnings from folk fortune-telling, rather than professional clinical pathological diagnoses from a physician.

In addition, after testing, the capsules and pills distributed by Mr. Ye did not contain Western medicine ingredients, nor could it be determined if they were controlled substances. The collegiate bench stated that although Mr. Ye's self-made Chinese medicine capsules of unknown composition pose a significant potential risk to public health, this falls under the scope of whether other health regulations were violated. Since the prosecutor could not prove the nature of these "health supplements" as medications, it was difficult to conclude that Mr. Ye had illegally prescribed or administered medication to clients.

The collegiate bench also pointed out that although Mr. Ye's advertisements included claims related to medical treatment, such as "predicting possible illnesses throughout life," this also falls under the scope of whether the Medical Affairs Act was violated. It is difficult to conclude that Mr. Ye engaged in illegal medical practice or had the intent to do so based on these exaggerated claims. Moreover, the prosecutor failed to present other positive evidence to prove Mr. Ye's offense. Based on the principle of presumption of innocence, Mr. Ye was acquitted. The verdict is appealable. (Editor: Chang Ming-kun) 1150623

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