Clients of Chinese medicine clinic in Richmond Hill advised to get tested for HIV, hepatitis

York Region is urging people who received certain services at a traditional Chinese medicine clinic in Richmond Hill in the last several years to get tested for hepatitis and HIV.

The warning comes after an investigation into Huai Kui Xu TCM Clinic on Berwick Crescent identified "inadequate infection prevention and control practices," according to a news release issued on Tuesday.

Anyone who has received wet cupping or micro-needling/derma rolling services at the clinic since Oct. 1, 2015 should get tested for blood-borne infections as a precaution, it says.

"Clients may have been exposed to blood-borne infections," the release says. "As a precaution, clients who received one or more of these services at this clinic should seek medical follow-up and be tested for Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)."

Officials inspected the clinic on June 7 after being made aware of "health concerns," the release said.

Inspectors discovered the clinic was not properly cleaning or sterilizing the devices used for wet cupping, according to the release. They also found the clinic was re-using single-use micro-needle and derma roller devices on multiple clients.

Wet cupping is a procedure that uses suction cups to pull on punctured skin in order to draw out blood and other bodily fluids. Micro-needle rollers or derma rollers are devices with small, fine needles that are rolled over the skin to make tiny holes in order to stimulate healing and collagen production.

Health officials say although the risk to clients is low, they are advising anyone who received these services at the clinic between Oct. 1, 2015 and June 7, 2023 to get tested by their family doctor, nurse practitioner or at a walk-in clinic.

The clinic operator has been ordered to stop performing "services of concern," and currently can only provide assessments and Chinese herbal medicine treatments, according to the release.

Dr. Sarah Erdman, associate medical officer of health for York Region Public Health, told CBC Toronto on Tuesday that the operator runs the clinic out of his home, but it is a licensed business and the operator is a health professional regulated by the College of Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners and Acupuncturists of Ontario.

Erdman said the operator has been cooperative with the investigation.

She added that the region was concerned, particularly with the wet cupping procedure, that clients may have been exposed to the blood of other clients.

"Therefore there is a risk of transmission of these blood borne infections," she said. "We wanted to alert clients to the risk and to the recommendation that they get tested for these viruses."

Erdman said people are often asymptomatic when infected with hepatitis and HIV and that's why testing is crucial.

Julie Maxey, a neighbour, said the investigation came as a shock to her.

"I'm beyond words. I just pray honestly for those people that they're okay. That makes me beyond, beyond sick... I am appalled," she said.

According to the release, the public notification was issued because the clinic had "inadequate client documentation practices" so the region is unable to follow up with clients directly.

The investigation included several site visits, a risk assessment, a literature review and consultations with Public Health Ontario and field experts, the release says.

The region says health professionals must follow infection prevention and control practices set out by their respective colleges.

"The clinic will be reinspected to ensure all the conditions in the order have been met and services may resume once the operator has gained full compliance," the release says.

With files from Anam Khan