Bio

Hu Wanlin was born on December 12, 1949, in Mianyang, a city in Sichuan Province, China. He had a challenging upbringing and only completed primary school. This limited education shaped his early experiences and choices in life.

As a young adult, Hu got into trouble with the law. He was imprisoned multiple times for serious offenses, including intentional homicide, swindling, and the abduction and trafficking of women. While serving time in 1993, he decided to pursue a different path. He opened a medical practice in prison, which marked the beginning of his involvement in medicine without formal training.

After being released from prison in 1997, Hu began practicing medicine illegally. He opened hospitals in the northern Shanxi Province and the northwestern Shaanxi Province, despite having no legal certification to do so. His practices were initially welcomed, and he gained some recognition for his claims to perform medical miracles and for his work in qigong, a traditional Chinese medical practice that involves the manipulation of energy.

Hu's self-promotion led him to present himself as a miracle worker capable of diagnosing patients rapidly. He claimed he could cure various ailments without physical contact, a belief that attracted many followers. However, his practices included the use of homemade herbal medicines that were unsafe and, in some cases, lethal.

In February 1998, local authorities banned him from practicing medicine in the province. Despite this setback, he moved to Henan Province in June 1998 to continue his medical practices. His time there would eventually lead to significant outcomes that drew attention to the issues of unlicensed medical practice in China.

Murder Story

In 1997, Hu Wanlin began his illegal medical practice in various provinces of China. He showed a pattern of using homemade herbal medicines that contained high amounts of sodium sulfate, which is poisonous in large doses. Hu claimed to have healing powers through the traditional medical art of qigong. His methods attracted many patients, but unfortunately, they often resulted in death.

From 1997 to 1998, Hu's 'treatments' are believed to have led to at least 146 deaths. Some known victims included Wang Baoran, a man with kidney dysfunction, who died in December 1997. Liu Famin, a mayor with liver cancer, and He Suyun, a retired teacher, both died after using Hu's prescriptions. Their deaths, along with many others, sparked concerns about his practices.

On January 18, 1999, Hu was arrested. Authorities charged him with causing the deaths of many patients through his illegal practices. Despite the alarming number of fatalities associated with him, he was convicted only for practicing medicine without a license. He faced trial and was sentenced to 15 years in prison on October 1, 2000. In addition to his prison sentence, Hu was fined and lost his voting rights for five years.