A lawyer is calling for stricter legal oversight of medical care
because some hospitals are not aware that they bear responsibility
for mistakes.
The lawyer, Lu Yiguang, from the Haida Law Firm, also called for
stricter punishments for medical professionals whose performance
has been found to have resulted in an accident and more transparent
appraisals of such accidents. Lu's firm specializes in cases
involving medical disputes.
"There are no clear definitions of the amount of responsibility
a hospital should take after an accident," Lu said. "Say a hospital
is found to have minor responsibility in a case. Who, then, should
take the main responsibility? The patient himself?"
The lawyer's call came a week after the Shanghai Municipal
Health Bureau reported that there had been 40 confirmed medical
accidents at local hospitals in the first half of this year.
Fourteen of those cases, or about 35 percent, involved maternity
procedures, while 13 of the cases, or about 32 percent, involved
surgical procedures.
Lu said more people are willing to challenge hospitals after
such accidents. "Patients are more willing to make judgments about
their treatment in these two areas (maternity and surgery)," he
said. "Besides, parents tend to have very high expectations for
their newborns, so even the slightest injury can easily evolve into
a major medical dispute."
The Shanghai Municipal Health Bureau received 90 reports of
medical accidents in the first six months this year, though the
hospitals were found to be wholly or mostly responsible in 40 of
the cases.
The bureau attributed the accidents to the lack of quality
control at the hospitals. The bureau also found that the skills of
many medical professionals lag behind public demand. "Incorrect
diagnoses, surgical mistakes and improper dosages of medicines
caused most of the accidents," said the report by the bureau.
In one example, a baby girl born to a German businessman and his
Chinese wife was unable to lift her left arm. It was eventually
found that the injury was caused by the use of forceps during
labor. However, the initial report on the case cleared the hospital
of any wrongdoing, so the injury was not judged the result of a
medical accident.
Undeterred by the finding, the couple hired a lawyer, Tang
Jianli, to look into the case. Tang discovered that the medical
records had been falsified.
"Hospital staff were not aware of what a serious issue it is to
falsify a medical record," Lu said. "Such conduct must be subject
to strict punishment."
Lawyers advised people who had doubts about the quality of
treatment they had received at a hospital to make copies of their
medical records. They said the original versions of the records
should be sealed in the presence of both the patient and officials
from the hospital. Lu also said the appraisal process for medical
accidents is lacking.
(China Daily December 4, 2006)