Herbalist who sold unsafe pills released

LONDON, Feb. 18 (UPI) -- A British judge conditionally released a Chinese herbalist after she admitted selling unsafe pills to a woman who later developed kidney failure and cancer.

Judge Jeremy Roberts of Central Criminal Court, commonly known as the Old Bailey, said he had sympathy for the "terrible damage" plaintiff Patricia Booth, 58, of Chelmsford, England, suffered by taking the pills.

But he said he saw no evidence herbalist Ying "Susan" Wu, 48, of Holland-on-Sea, England, knew the Xie Gan Wan pills she sold contained aristolochic acid, a rodent carcinogen that was later banned.

In his opinion, Roberts called on the British government to regulate traditional Chinese medicines and people who sell them, The Times of London reported.

"There may be a gap in our law here which the government might wish to address," he said.

Britain's Department of Health is considering recommendations for such regulation but has not indicated when a framework will come into force, The Times said.

Booth consulted with Ying for a skin condition in 1997. And while her skin improved after taking the pills, her health collapsed by 2002, Booth's lawyers argued.

Her kidneys failed, she developed urinary tract cancer and later had a heart attack -- all because of the pills, her lawyers argued.

She now needs dialysis treatments three times a week and no longer works at her government job, the lawyers said.