College disciplines acupuncturist accused of running bawdy house
Banned from practising until 2014
A Surrey acupuncturist has earned a pointed rebuke for allegedly running a bawdy house out of his acupuncture clinic.
John Hong Zou Zhang was found guilty of professional misconduct, banned from practising for three years and fined $21,500 last week by the College of Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners and Acupuncturists of B.C.
Zhang has been suspended from practising since January 2011, and his suspension will now continue until 2014, the college’s disciplinary committee ruled on Oct. 26. The acupuncturist ran the former Hua Xia Traditional Chinese Medicine clinic in the 10100-block King George Boulevard, as well as a practice in Vancouver.
“It’s very upsetting to our practitioners,” college registrar Mary Watterson said Thursday.
“Most of our practitioners are dedicated health professionals and this sort of thing is abhorrent to them,” she said.
The college began investigating Zhang on Jan. 11, 2011, responding to allegations he was offering the services of prostitutes at his clinic.
Their information was provided by Surrey bylaw officials who, together with Surrey RCMP, had conducted surveillance on the clinic between October and December 2010. The city subsequently revoked his business licence. Zhang was never criminally charged.
Surrey RCMP Sgt. Drew Grainger was involved in the surveillance operation at the time and said that investigators had even walked in on sexual activity taking place.
Grainger said police decided to shut down the business, using municipal bylaws instead of operating under the Criminal Code in order to act quickly.
“At the end of the day, the goal was to shut this business down to protect the public interest,” he said. The officer added that massage parlours can be fronts for prostitution, but “traditional medicine is a new spin on it.”
During the disciplinary hearings, two male customers testified that they had bought sexual services at the clinic.
A Surrey bylaw officer testified that surveillance revealed boxes of condoms and opened wrappers, signs depicting sexual activities and a scantily clad female at the clinic.