By Tay Shi'an

HE watched in alarm as his ankle swelled to twice its normal size and developed rashes, blisters and pus.

This was after a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) clinic prescribed a herbal paste for a mild sprain after a football game.

Mr Goh Lai Hup (above), 28, said he went back to the clinic three times over the next 10 days.

When he found himself in so much pain that he couldn't walk, he finally went to a hospital, where he was diagnosed as being allergic to the herbal paste, which had caused an infection.

He was hospitalised for a week, incurring over $2,000 in medical bills.

Upset, the undergrad filed a lawsuit against the TCM company, Ma Kuang Healthcare Group, claiming negligence in their treatment.

The case was recently settled out of court, with Ma Kuang paying Mr Goh more than $14,000.

Mr Goh admitted he took a "huge risk" in suing the TCM company.

He said: "Actually my wife was quite worried. If we were not successful, we might have to pay their legal costs too.

"But I felt I was right. (They) caused me so much pain and suffering.

"It would be totally ridiculous if they were not going to be responsible for my injury."

A Ma Kuang spokesman said the company regretted the incident and was glad that Mr Goh had since made a full recovery.

WILLING TO COMPENSATE

She said her company had always been willing to compensate Mr Goh for the incident, but the parties were not able to agree on a figure. That's when lawyers were brought in.

Mr Goh had visited the Ma Kuang clinic at Jurong West in May last year.

A massage therapist massaged his ankle, applied a herbal paste, and bandaged it up.

By the next day, he started to experience itching and rashes around his ankle.

He claimed he went back to the clinic twice and asked to see a TCM physician, but was told by the staff that the itching would subside.

He claimed it was only on his fourth visit, when he stressed that the condition was getting worse, that he managed to see a TCM physician, who prescribed him an oral medication.

But the next day - 11 days after his first visit - he woke up to find his foot covered in blisters and pus, and so swollen that he couldn't walk.

He finally went to a hospital. By then, the allergic reaction and infection were serious enough for him to be given antibiotics intravenously.

He said: "It was very, very painful. I couldn't even sleep."

To make matters worse, he then had an allergic reaction to the antibiotics that the hospital gave him, causing him to break out in rashes over other areas like his back and thighs.

He was eventually discharged a week later, and given 14 days medical leave.

He applied for a medical report from the hospital and went to Ma Kuang's office to ask for $20,000 compensation.

He later received a registered letter from the company, saying the report was too brief and asking him to furnish a more detailed one.

SO ANGRY

He said: "I got angry so I went to see a lawyer."

In the writ of summons, Mr Goh accused Ma Kuang of being negligent in their treatment.

The clinic, he said, failed to spot the allergy and infection, and provide adequate treatment and advice.

Mr Goh said: "I went back to them three times, but they didn't take my complaint seriously."

In a faxed statement in Mandarin to The New Paper on Sunday, the Ma Kuang spokesman said that when a physician saw the blisters, she prescribed medication according to TCM practices.

Said the spokesman: "We wish to stress that even if a doctor is experienced and qualified, individual patients can have unpredictable reactions (to treatments)."

She said that when the company found out Mr Goh was in hospital, its staff went to visit him.

After deducting the $2,200 medical costs and over $5,300 in legal fees, Mr Goh was left with about $7,000 from the $14,434.73 settlement.

Mr Goh said that despite what happened, he would still go for TCM treatments at other clinics in future.

Dermatologists advise patients to seek treatment early if they spot any adverse reactions.

Dr Cheong Wai Kwong, a consultant dermatologist at the Specialist Skin Clinic, said that in a case like Mr Goh's, the delay in treatment likely made the condition worse and allowed infection to set in.

If treatment had been further delayed, the allergic reaction and rashes may have spread over the whole body, and the infection might have spread to the deeper tissues and the blood stream.

This story was first published in The New Paper on June 28, 2008.