A traditional Chinese medical practitioner who advised a diabetic woman to stop taking her medication has been acquitted of manslaughter.
Yun Sen Luo, 56, had pleaded not guilty in the NSW District Court over the death of the 56-year-old woman in a Sydney hospital on June 8, 2018.
The long-term diabetic, who had a history of non-compliance in taking her medication, had consulted Mr Luo about her eczema.
He advised her against using her "Western-style" medications, prescribed her herbal medications and when she became ill believed it related to the toxins leaving her body.
After a trial without a jury, Judge John Pickering on Friday found him not guilty of manslaughter by gross criminal negligence.
"Although I think his work was utterly incompetent, I don't think it was criminal in nature," he said.
While he found Mr Luo morally had a significant role and blame in the death, he did not have "the degree of wickedness" required to amount to the charged offence.
Her cause of death related to the withdrawal of her ongoing diabetes medication.
The judge said she was not a child but a 56-year-old woman who for whatever reasons was very happy to take advice completely at odds with her long-term treatment.
"She made a conscious voluntary choice not to take her medication," he said.
Her daughter and son-in-law had a misguided trust in Mr Luo, but they - not him - were living with her when her condition deteriorated and could have sought other help.
While the judge found the conduct did not amount to gross criminal negligence, he noted it was up to the medical regulator to decide on any punishment.
"It should be acknowledged there are sadly thousands of cases of medical negligence that occur within Australia and the Western world," he said.
Overwhelmingly, they were dealt with in civil cases and by medical tribunals and only a tiny percentage ended up in the criminal courts.
This was because such conduct was said to be so serious it was criminal in nature, more than incompetence or negligence.
