Breast Cancer Patient A Dies from Procedure Side Effects
"Medical Licenses Easily Obtained Online"
A 'fake doctor' who caused the death of a breast cancer patient due to a botched procedure in China has been arrested by the police.
According to the Hong Kong South China Morning Post (SCMP) on the 1st, a doctor in China who performed bloodletting acupuncture and inserted cement into a breast cancer patient's armpit, leading to the patient's death, was apprehended.
"Claims that breast cancer can be treated with traditional Chinese medicine"
Breast cancer patient A was diagnosed with terminal cancer at the end of 2021 and was introduced by an acquaintance to medical practitioner B, who claimed that breast cancer could also be treated with traditional Chinese medicine and operated a tumor research institute in Wuhan, Hebei Province.
Patient A visited the research institute for treatment and, persuaded strongly by B and seeing several medical licenses displayed inside the institute, decided to undergo treatment. B regularly performed bloodletting acupuncture on A and administered herbal medicine, claiming it could kill cancer cells, and inserted cement under the patient's armpit.
A paid a total of 200,000 yuan (approximately 37 million KRW) for the treatment but soon suffered from side effects such as the treatment site becoming infected and bursting, and eventually died in June.
Following this, A's daughter filed a lawsuit against B, and the police immediately arrested him for investigation. The investigation revealed that B was a fake doctor who had never studied medicine and had obtained his medical license online.
Medical frauds like this are frequently occurring in China. In September, Beijing police arrested 41 people on charges of persuading elderly individuals to purchase so-called 'superfunctional drugs,' defrauding each person of thousands of yuan.
Additionally, on the 10th of last month, over 1,200 medical personnel in Sichuan Province were found to be involved in corruption. Zhang Huashan, secretary of the 6th People's Hospital, received kickbacks worth 6 million yuan (approximately 1.1 billion KRW) for drugs and equipment. Former secretary Si Jun of the 5th People's Hospital was revealed to have lived a lavish lifestyle, owning eight luxury cars and seven properties in Hainan and other locations, built with wealth accumulated from kickbacks.
Furthermore, Liu Xiaoping, former director of the public traditional Chinese medicine hospital in Zizhong County, Neijiang City, was found to have accepted bribes totaling 20 million yuan (approximately 3.7 billion KRW) during his tenure.
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