Quack eggplant therapist back to work

• Source: Global Times
• [02:08 June 02 2010]
• Comments

Illustration: CFP

By Huang Jingjing

The author of a best-selling diet book who faked his professional credentials and promoted a magic cure based on eggplants and mung beans, reopened his office Tuesday.

Zhang Wuben, known as "the top diet therapist" until last week, closed his office on Friday after the Ministry of Health said he faked his credentials and does not have any medical training or qualifications. He was not ordered to stop his consultations.

Zhang tells his clients to eat certain vegetables to cure cancer, diabetes and other serious diseases.

However, the office reopened Tuesday and Beijing health authority said they found no foul play.

"He did not register his business as a medical institution, and no drug prescription or sales were found in his facility. What he was offering diet consultation, which is out of our administration's jurisdiction," Ma Yanming, spokesman from Beijing Health Bureau, told the Global Times Tuesday.

The bureau has not received complaints about Zhang, so they have no grounds to accuse him of illegal medical practice, Ma said.

An operator at the facility told a caller that the facility suspended its operation over the weekend to make way for a large-scale event at the nearby Bird's Nest.

A sports meet was held there over the weekend.

The operator told the caller that clients should use a back door instead of the front one which was closed to avoid journalists.

Zhang, 47, became a hot personality ever since his book Cure the Diseases You Get from Eating by Eating hit the market in November. It sold 1 million copies at 35 yuan ($ 5) a pop.

Mung bean, eggplant, radish, and white gourd top the list of Zhang's recommendations. He said in his book that almost all chronic diseases including diabetes, high blood pressure, and even some cancers could be cured.