Family of SF woman who died after drinking toxic tea sues herbalist

Yu-Ping Xie worked multiple jobs in San Francisco and still found time to cook dinner for her two sons and husband — an unwavering effort to make a better life for her family following their immigration from China more than 13 years ago.

But the brothers lost a mother and a husband lost his companion on Saturday when the 56-year-old Xie died at California Pacific Medical Center’s Pacific campus after apparently being poisoned by toxic tea prescribed by an herbalist in San Francisco’s Chinatown.

The family filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Sun Wing Wo Trading Co. on Wednesday that seeks unspecified damages after Xie ingested the deadly blend of medicinal tea allegedly prescribed by the Chinatown shop’s owner.

Yu Ping Xie, 56, died on Saturday after ingesting toxic tea from an herbalist in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Her family filed a lawsuit against the shop on Wednesday while they continue to grieve her loss. Yu Ping Xie, 56, died on Saturday after ingesting toxic tea from an herbalist in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Her family filed a lawsuit against the shop on Wednesday while they continue to grieve her loss. Photo: Jin Wei Deng / / Photo: Jin Wei Deng / / Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close Family of SF woman who died after drinking toxic tea sues herbalist 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

“She would do anything unconditionally to help us,” said Xie’s 31-year-old son and co-plaintiff in the lawsuit, Jin Deng. “She worked very hard. She single-handedly brought the whole family up and did multiple jobs.”

Deng, his younger brother and their father are grappling with their loss following the past month and a half of anguish.

Sometime in February, Xie was prescribed a blend of herbs by Yui-Wun Chan, the owner of Sun Wing Wo Trading Co. and a practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine.

Xie took the blend of tea to help improve her immune system. It was the first time she had taken a traditional Chinese herbal elixir since she and her sons moved from Guangzhou, China, in 2003, Deng said.

But the mother soon fell critically ill, experiencing abnormal heart rhythms and weakness that required resuscitation and hospitalization until she ultimately died on Saturday.

A man in his 30s was hospitalized in a separate incident after apparently ingesting tea from the same herbalist, San Francisco Department of Public Health officials said. He has since recovered and was discharged from the hospital.

The San Francisco medical examiner is working to determine Xie’s official cause of death, but investigators with the health department believe they’ve narrowed the origin to aconite, a toxic flower found in the teas both victims had purchased at the Chinatown shop.

If prepared properly, aconite is said to have anti-inflammatory properties and has long been used in traditional Chinese medicine. But the purple flower in its raw state — also called wolf’s bane, monkshood and helmet flower — can be a deadly cardiotoxin.

Health inspectors have pulled any products containing aconite from Sun Wing Wo Trading Co. while they investigate how the toxin got into the tea.

The herb shop at 1105 Grant Ave. remained open for business Wednesday as customers looked over the bulk bins of dried roots and shelves of pills and supplements imported from Asia.

None of the merchants there spoke English, but a spokeswoman for the shop said the business could not comment on the poisonings.

“We have been cooperating with the health department and we are waiting for the results of their investigation,” said a woman over the telephone, who did not want to give her name.

Xie’s family hopes something significant comes from the health department’s probe.

“The family wants justice,” San Francisco attorney Charles Kelly, who filed the lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court on behalf of the family, said Wednesday. “They feel that the Sun Wing Wo Trading Co. should be held responsible for selling contaminated herbs that killed their mother.”

Kelly also hopes the incident will be a wake-up call to state lawmakers. Unlike other health professionals, acupuncturists and even barbers, herbalists like Chan at Sun Wing Wo are not required to be licensed by the state.

“This is a perfect time for the state to take a look and say, ‘Do we need to regulate this?’” Kelly said. “These teas are not meant to be sipped recreationally. Mr. Chan prescribed these. He’s essentially trying to practice medicine.”

Deng, who works as a nurse at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, said it was his mother’s hard work and compassion that inspired him to get an education and pursue a career in nursing. Xie woke up every morning at 5 a.m. on her way to work as an in-home health care provider to seniors along with her side jobs at various hospitals and clinics.

“I just feel regret that she had done so much for the family, and me and my brother, and we didn’t get to provide her the good life that she deserved,” Deng said.

He said his father, Wei Dong Deng, has barely eaten or slept since Xie fell ill. “After she passed, he has barely spoken,” the son said.

But as the family grieves, Deng is comforted by the profound impact his mother’s hard work and humanity had on his success in the United States.

“She was always so kind and very compassionate,” he said. “I got a lot of the kindness from her. That’s what made me want to pursue a career that requires a lot of compassion and kindness.”

Friends of the family have created an online fundraising site to help pay for costs associated with Xie’s poisoning and death.

Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky