A civil servant who bought pills to cure acne from a Chinese herbal medicine shop allegedly ended up with cancer and kidney failure because they contained a banned substance.

The Daily Mail reports that Patricia Booth – who was in her mid-40s when she started using the pills in 1997 – bought the treatment from a shop near her home in Chelmsford, Essex and took the tablets for five-and-a-half years.

The Old Bailey heard that the Chinese Herbal Medical Centre had advertised its products as being safe.

Mrs Booth – who was the manager of a government office with a staff of 50-60 people beneath her – had suffered from patches of spots similar to acne. Despite visiting her GP, she was not keen on the idea of having to take antibiotics long term.

In February 1997, having seen a leaflet advertising the Chinese Herbal Medical Centre’s services, she and her husband had a consultation with Ying ‘Susan’ Wu, 48, of Holland-on-Sea, Essex and an elderly Chinese man who was introduced to her as a doctor.

Ms Wu was also employed as a ‘Chinese doctor’ at the centre, which operated between late 1996 and August 2003.

The elderly male doctor asked Mrs Booth questions in Chinese, which were translated by Ms Wu, the court heard.

Mrs Booth was given herbs to boil up to make a drink, but objected to the 'horrible' taste, so returned to the shop where Ms Wu gave her pills without a further consultation. The daily dosage was around 30 pills three times a day, the prosecution told the court.

The dose decreased as Mrs Booth’s skin improved, but she returned to the shop approximately every 10 days to stock up – and carried on taking the medicine until November 2002.

The court heard that, by then, Mrs Booth was not feeling well and thought she had flu. She was sent for a blood test in February 2003 and was diagnosed with chronic kidney failure.

Mrs Booth was placed on a waiting list for a kidney transplant, but by 2006 had developed cancer of the kidneys. She underwent ‘major surgery’ to remove her urinary tract and kidneys and attends a dialysis clinic three times a week. In August 2008, she suffered a heart attack.

The court heard that she is waiting to be placed on the waiting list for donor kidneys again.

The tablets Mrs Booth had been taking were found to contain the banned substance aristolochic acid, which had ‘destroyed’ her kidneys.

Ying ‘Susan’ Wu denies a number of charges relating to the sale of the medicine to Mrs Booth – and Ms Wu and shop owner Thin ‘Patrick’ Wong, 47, of Southend both deny charges of possession of medicines without authorisation.

Mrs Booth is not well enough to attend court and will be giving evidence by videolink.

The trial continues.

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