Shop Owner Convicted and Fined for Thief’s Death Due to Poisoned Chinese Medicine

A thief who stole traditional Chinese medicine and soaked in wine was poisoned to death, and the shop owner was convicted of “guilty”.The owner of a traditional Chinese medicine shop surnamed Sun in Fujian, China, was stolen by thieves surnamed Zhang 7 years agoAconitum basking in the sun outside the store(Aconitum aconitum), Zhang Nan, who did not know the nature of the medicine, made poisonous aconitum into medicinal wine and drank it after returning home, and then died of poison.

According to “Sohu News”, Boss Sun, who was always expected by his TCM doctor’s father to inherit the family business, was admitted to the University of TCM when he was young, but because of making friends with wine and meat by mistake, he was not good at his skills, and he was unemployed after graduation. Fortunately, his father spent his money on his behalf. He opened a Chinese medicine store, and Boss Sun saw his father’s painstaking efforts. The prodigal son turned back and studied hard, managed the medicine store well, and was well-known in the local Chinese medicine city. Unexpectedly, Zhang Nan, a worker by profession, wanted to “replenish it” one day after get off work, and he actually stared at the medicinal materials that Boss Sun was drying by the road outside the shop.

Zhang Nan, who didn’t understand medicinal materials, medicinal properties and pharmaceuticals, took the opportunity to take a handful of materials home, and one of the aconitum in his hand eventually killed him. Three days later, in the evening, Zhang Nan opened the medicinal wine that had been soaked for three days and drank three cups in a row. As a result, his body was not replenished, so he put it into the soil as fertilizer. The family members who knew that Mr. Zhang had stolen Boss Sun’s medicinal materials later learned that there were aconitum in the medicinal materials. They not only came to the door to ask Boss Sun to “account for it”, but also sued for compensation.

The first-instance judge believed that Boss Sun indirectly caused the death of Zhang Nan. He not only ordered him to pay more than 300,000 yuan (about NT$1.34 million), but also sentenced him to 2 years and 9 months in prison. Boss Sun, who was dissatisfied with this, appealed twice afterwards, but the case has been entangled in litigation since 2016, and the judge has recently determined that he “placed poisonous substances in public places without warnings” and must pay RMB 40,000 (approx. NT$170,000) fixed price.

It is reported that because of the highly toxic substances such as aconitine, mesoaconitine, and hypoaconitine in the roots of aconitum, it only takes 3 to 5 mg to cause death. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that aconitum has the effects of dispelling wind and dampness, warming meridians and relieving pain, but it must be processed or mixed with other medicinal materials to reduce toxicity before taking it. In addition, Aconitum has other names such as Fuzi, Duanchang, Kuwubeak, Xidu, Jidu, Ranunculus, Dugong, Monoloach, and Aconitum.