Relaxing massage turns painful after infrared therapy lamp allegedly falls on customer

SINGAPORE: A supposedly relaxing experience turned into a nightmare when a woman was accidentally hit by an infrared lamp in a traditional Chinese medicine clinic while having a massage. The lamp was hit by the masseur, leaving a second-degree burn in the shape of a  ‘spider-web.’

The 57-year-old victim reported to Shin Min Daily News that on January 23, she went to have a massage at a traditional Chinese medicine clinic located at City Square Mall. According to her narrative, the staff used an infrared therapy lamp to help relax her muscles, but when the staff moved the lamp away using her food, the lamp accidentally fell onto her back. She immediately went to a nearby clinic to see a doctor, especially since she was in so much pain at that time. 

The victim declared: “The doctor said I had second-degree burns and gave me a painkiller injection and prescribed pain medication.” 

She then admitted that the staff immediately apologised and gave her S$1,000; however, she claimed that the damage should be paid by the company, so she returned the money to her. 

“After the incident, the owner of the Chinese medicine clinic contacted me. Although he said he would take responsibility, he pointed out that I did not have the clinic’s doctor examine me at the time. He also said that he would only consider compensation after his doctor or a doctor he designated examined me,” the victim further added. 

With this, the victim was encouraged to complain to the management and the police. 

No compensation given yet 

The victim then demanded S$7,000 compensation from the company, but was unsuccessful. She revealed that she had spent more than S$560 on medical expenses and would need to spend more on lasers to completely remove the scars. 

The clinic responded that they are willing to cover the relevant medical expenses, given that the victim would allow them to know her treatment plan. The victim said that she did not want to sign any treatment packages until the compensation issue was resolved. 

Other related news 

In similar news related to customer accidents, there was a recent report where a customer claimed that a beautician had scratched her face with a blade while doing an eyebrow touch-up and failed to apologise. 

“I felt very disappointed with the attitude shown. Accidents can happen, but it is important to take responsibility and apologise to the customer,” the customer declared. 

Read more about the news story here.