'Doctor death' interns case causes outrage

• Source: Global Times
• [02:45 November 05 2009]
• Comments

The CCTV report, broadcast two days before the second court ruling, could likely mislead the court decision and "interfere with justice," the statement said.

The hospital admitted that a medical student who gave a prescription without a doctor's supervision or authorization was not abiding by the rules. But it is not representative of the hospital's general practice, according to the statement.

Liu Xigao, an emergency physician and a PhD student three years from graduation, wrote prescriptions at the emergency rescue department, CCTV reported Tuesday.

The law of medical practitioners stipulates that even licensed doctors need to serve at least five years in a medical institution before they are eligible to give emergency treatment.

Liu is not the only unlicensed doctor at the hospital, and CCTV named Li Shaolei and Zhou Yijun, among others, as unqualified practitioners.

Sun Wanjun, secretary-general of the Beijing Lawyers Association, told CCTV that he has worked on three lawsuits against the hospital where 54 "doctors" were allegedly found to be unlicensed.

A 19-year-old woman named Liu Li died four days after receiving emergency treatment for gum bleeding, diarrhea and vomiting in November 2006.

The autopsy report said Liu's death was caused by incorrect diagnosis by 10 doctors, eight of whom were unlicensed, CCTV reported.

There were different opinions from medical experts.

The death is only an isolated case, a senior anesthetist at a well-known hospital in Beijing, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Global Times.

"Instead of convincing facts, all the reports are only one side of the story, which was broadcast by so-called victims and the media," he said. "Formal records from the hospital is the only legitimate proof in a highly professional medical area."

"Don't liken unlicensed students to barefoot doctors," a post-graduate student at a medical school told the Global Times.

Barefoot doctors were farmers who received minimal basic medical and paramedical training and worked in rural villages.

"Post-graduates and PhD students are commonly seen at hospitals worldwide," he said. "They could serve as assistants, but they can't get certificates because they are still at school."

Zhang Han and An Baijie contributed to this story