[Acupuncture as a cause of death (author's transl)].

Acupuncture is a controversial method of treatment, the success of which, according to the convictions of its opponents, is based solely on suggestion or autosuggestion. That the rules of the Chinese teaching on acupuncture are not observed by many acupuncturists does not contribute to its prestige. Serious injuries resulting from acupuncture therapy have, however, seldom become known. For this reason the case is presented of a 63-year-old woman, suffering from asthma, who died as a result of a bilateral pneumothorax following injury to the lungs in the course of acupuncture of the chest wall.