Last month, a 79-year-old Shanghai citizen in Putuo district suddenly died in a crowd. He was in a crush of elderly people waiting for free ginseng capsules. A month later, however, almost the same free deals are still being offered throughout the city under the guise of health products and therapies. It seems that the death hasn't dampened the senior residents' passion for "free lunches." Critics suggest that many of these health deals and special opportunities are nothing more than clever scams.

At dawn, when the wet market on Changli Road East in Pudong New Area is yet to grow busy, a health center across the road sees scores of elderly citizens lining up. They're waiting for badges to be handed out by the center staff. The badges entitle them to a free electrostatic therapy treatment when the center opens at 8 am.

"I heard it's more effective to receive the treatment early in the morning," 69-year-old Wang Yueying, who has been a regular visitor to the center for two months, told the Global Times. Every 30 minutes, 24 people are allowed into the center, which has eight electrostatic therapy machines, to receive this free treatment. "And there will be graduates from medical schools giving us lectures on diabetes, high blood pressure and different health topics that we elderly are concerned about," said Wang.

Some improvement

Wang Yueying has suffered from insomnia for years and was hoping for a cure when  she heard from neighbors about the free electrostatic experience center. "I do feel an improvement. And now I'm helping out distributing the center's leaflets in the neighboring compounds," she said.

According to Hong, the manager at this center (there are two other staff members - a woman in charge of distributing the badges and maintaining order, and a lecturer), the machines can treat high blood pressure, diabetes, insomnia, constipation, strokes, slipped discs and as many other problems as you can name. "Electrostatic therapy is essentially a process in which the body cells are 'recharged' by these special high-voltage devices that transmit safe electric current to human body," she told the Global Times.

She elaborated: "Our bodies are made up of some 60 trillion cells. And every cell in our body has a tiny electrical charge of up to 90 millivolts. Pollution and city lifestyles mean that these cells have to be constantly recharged to stay healthy."

Ruijin Hospital, one of the leading hospitals in town, told the Global Times that the hospital is not equipped with the so-called electrostatic therapy devices and doctors with the hospital's rehabilitation department said they had heard of the devices but were totally unaware of any scientific backing for a cell recharging theory.

Importantly, the services provided at the center are not without drawbacks. "After I had been visiting the place for two or three weeks, the manager here suggested that I should buy one of the machines and take it home to achieve better results. She implied that it would be unnecessary for my children to know about the issue as long as I could afford it myself. But it's not a small sum. I haven't done anything about it yet," Wang said.

There are four types of electrostatic therapy machines available at this center in Pudong and prices range from 18,000 yuan ($2,890), nearly six times Wang's monthly pension, to more than 40,000 yuan. But when the Global Times looked at the website of the State Food and Drug Administration, only one of the four machines was registered and approved. But the official registration said that this machine could only be used in the treatment of insomnia, constipation and chronic fatigue syndrome, and not the extended list of ailments that the manager had announced.

Some pay up

It's not a small sum, but there are elderly people who have paid up. "On average, we sell six or seven of these every month," Hong said when pushing to make a sale.

Seventy-six-year-old Song is one who bought an electrostatic therapy machine. She made the purchase at a health care store which was also offering free trials in Baoshan district. In September, the old lady, who suffers heart problems and high blood pressure, spent 10,000 yuan on a machine along with 8,000 yuan on other  "medicines" at the store.

When Song's children took her to hospital for a health check in October, however, she was found to have higher blood pressure than before. She finally confessed that after using the device and taking the pills from the store, she stopped taking the medicines prescribed by the hospital doctors.

Her daughter-in-law Li was angry. "We wanted to take the device to that store and ask for a refund. But my mother insisted that we did not do this." Reportedly the sales techniques used by these health care companies, offering free trials, friendly service and care for seniors, have worked very effectively on many elderly clients.

"It's essentially brainwashing. Many seniors, like my parents, truly believe in it. They are now seriously considering buying a machine," said 40-something Lin, who was checking the registration and product information of one of the machines for his parents in a health store on Taopu Road in Putuo district. "If I don't buy it for them, I will be denounced as being a bad son. It's been the cause of arguments in the family for a while."

But city industrial and commercial authorities were quoted by Xinmin Evening News as receiving very few complaints from residents about these machines.

Less aggression

While some businesses aim at collecting comparatively big sums of money from a small number of senior citizens, others have a seemingly less aggressive approach. On Xixiang Road in Putuo district, a health care store focuses on treatments for heart disease and strokes. This store uses magnetic therapy equipment and has been offering free services to the elderly.

Zhang Guanmei is the manager there and said the store didn't recommend that people buy the machines. "It's more than 2,000 yuan a piece. It's not cheap. Old people are welcome to come for a treatment every day. It's totally free," she told the Global Times.

However, Zhang says that clients must take special pills to enhance the treatments. These pills arrive with all the information, ingredients and instructions listed in English. Chinese regulations insist that all imported medicines sold in China have to have the details listed in Chinese. The pills have no drug approval number or production date and the company's website as shown on the package is not accessible.

A bottle of 60 pills recommended by Zhang is priced at 400 yuan, but a daily dosage of four to six pills means that a bottle will only last 10 days. A course of treatment at the store lasts six months. Without buying a machine there, customers will still have to pay up to 7,200 yuan for the pills for a six-month course of treatment.

As well the "high-tech" equipment, magnetic necklaces and bracelets, which are advertised to be protection from heart disease and high blood pressure, are also cheating senior citizens out of their money.