Nomad

>The major weakness of Chinese medicine as I remember is that fact that they are poisonous in a long run (that is, the medicine will accumulate in you and kills you in the end).  It is a reasonable result for a medical field that is developed without vigorous scientific observation.

Actually, I heard, and personally, saw the reverse - western medicine often ignores long term effect, and heavily rely on techniques that basically abandons part of your body, also medicine corporations are very reluctant to give study to very long term effects (like things happens after, say 20 years) that are neither trival nor easily done in the lab. (In fact, they won't even study for a possible treatment for some stomach ache with anti-biotics when the bio-physics studies so clearly shows that it was caused by a parasite.)
(Seriously, you'll never get to know how disgustingly unprofessional that industry actually is, it really works only because of all the crazy regulations... yet the regulations prevents competition and fuel more unprofessionalness in the industry.)

As far as I know the greatest problem in Chinese medicine are rather the following:

1. That it fails to treat very urgent situations - say, Chinese clinical message can manage your pain without the use of medicine, but can't help your arms when it's cut off. (western surgeons though, have amazing skills at reconnecting dismembered limbs) Similarly, if you're sick to the point of requiring instant medical attention, don't go for the Chinese doctor - their medicine often takes days to work.
2. The quality of Chinese medicine heavily depends on the skill of the doctor - while western medicine have very, very standardized education (to the point where they can train an absolute idiot into your General Doctor in the clinic), Chinese medicine is still seeking that standard language. So while the very skillful doctor may get your asthma without you ever knowing it, the bad one ... well, ranges from killing you 20 years later to killing you the very night you drink his medicine. Guess that's the "long term poison effect" you're talking about. (Often times your statement could mean eating some vegetable can kill you 20 years later ... which is often times what Chinese medicine is)

In fact my Chinese family doctor teaches courses in CUHK, did have this very famous quote: "Nobody knows who is making your medicine and where and how it's made. That's why there're too many fraud medicine everywhere in the world." Well, as good an manifestation of Buddha's teaching it is, I still keep my doctor's word in mind.