A private hospital in Ankang, Northwest China’s Shaanxi Province was closed temporarily for rectification on Thursday. Its director has been ordered to quit and the doctor who conducted a gynecologic surgery on a juvenile schoolgirl without the acknowledgement or authorization of her parents to stop practicing medicine.
Lu, the 17-year-old student who felt unwell, was invited to visit Ankang Xing’an Hospital for consultation after she clicked on a pop-up dialog from the hospital, according to ifeng.com.
The girl’s mother. surnamed Xu, said that her daughter was demanded by the doctor surnamed Cao to sign up her surgical consent on the removal of a cervical polyp and to confirm her medical bills during the surgery and was stopped from informing her parents, said the report.
The doctor even urged Lu to borrow money to pay the medical fees as quickly as possible since she was allegedly bleeding seriously and was in a life-threatening status.
Lu’s parents, who arrived at the hospital after receiving a notice from Lu’s classmate, confronted the hospital on why they conducted the surgery without informing them. They also questioned why the doctor stopped Lu from calling her parents and urged her to borrow money for the surgery.
Xu also claimed that a later examination on her daughter at another hospital showed no sign of the symptoms diagnosed at the Ankang Xing’an Hospital.
The local health authorities set up a work team to investigate the hospital on Wednesday afternoon after the issue drew public concerns.
A statement released by the local authorities on Thursday showed that Lu visited the hospital on Monday with the company of her classmate. Cao conducted the examination on her and made the diagnosis of a cervical polyp. The doctor then conducted the surgery with Lu’s consent.
The claim by Xu that her daughter was demanded to sign the consent midway through the surgery wasn’t confirmed. The allegation that the surgery was not necessary wasn’t coordinated with the results from the other hospital, which were conducted on other body parts, according to investigation.
However, authorities noted that the hospital does have poor management, provides inadequate information to patients and its doctors have poor ethical standards.
The hospital has been ordered to suspend operation for rectification with Cao ordered to stop practicing medicine and the director of the hospital ordered to quit.
According to the statement, Lu and her parents have reached a consensus with the hospital over the dispute.
Photo: Screenshot from Sina Weibo
