Authorities in China are looking into a 2019 incident in which a video showed a surgeon allegedly punching an 82-year-old woman in the head three times while performing surgery. The video caused a stir on social media in the area.
Even though the incident happened in December 2019, it wasn’t until this week that well-known Chinese physician Ai Fen released CCTV footage of the procedure.
The video appears to show the surgeon punching the patient in the head at least three times while operating on her eyes.
Following the viral video of the surgeon punching the 82-year-old patient during surgery on Chinese social media, the CEO of the hospital and the surgeon were fired by Aier China, the parent company of the hospital.
The police are looking into the case further. The incident happened during an operation at Aier China’s hospital in Guigang, a city in southwest China. Aier China is a chain of eye hospitals.
“During the surgery, due to local anesthesia, the patient had intolerance”. She moved her head and eyeballs multiple times, it said in a statement.
The surgeon “treated the patient roughly in an emergency” because the patient could only communicate in a dialect of the area and did not seem to understand the doctor’s Mandarin warnings.
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According to the report, the patient’s forehead was bruised, according to the local authorities.
As per the patient’s son, who spoke with local media outlets, the hospital’s management expressed regret and provided compensation of 500 yuan (USD 70) following the surgery. In addition, he mentioned that his mother’s left eye is now blind, though it’s unclear if this is related to the incident.
According to Aier China, the hospital neglected to notify headquarters of the incident.
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The surgeon, who is also the hospital dean, was suspended and the CEO of Guiyang Hospital was fired on Thursday due to “serious violations of the group’s regulations,” among other offenses that were not specified.
The video was shared on Dr. Ai’s Weibo account. Dr. Ai was one of several medical professionals who informed the public about the initial Wuhan Covid outbreak.
Dr Ai has been embroiled in legal disputes with Aier China since 2021 when she went for an operation at one of their hospitals. She has claimed she nearly became blind in one eye due to that operation, but Aier China has denied the allegation, the report said.
Source: PTI
