Recently, Mr. Zhou from Cenxi, Wuzhou, Guangxi, told the reporter of the upstream news (reporting micro-signal: shangyounews) that during the treatment of his mother in Cenxi People’s Hospital in September this year, his family members bought human albumin and immunoglobulin (both blood products) from the salespeople recommended by two doctors in different departments of the hospital. Afterwards, it was found that the price of the blood products was obviously higher than the market price, and the two doctors violated the "Nine Prohibitions" in the construction of medical and health ethics, so they complained to the relevant departments.
Mr. Zhou said that the hospital and the doctor apologized to him and made a "private settlement" respectively, hoping that he would cancel the complaint and be willing to refund the purchase money. Mr. Zhou said that he and his family did not agree and asked the hospital to handle it according to the regulations.
On November 26th, the complaint handling opinion of Cenxi Health Bureau stated that the doctors in the hospital involved did not explicitly ask the patients’ families to buy and use the biological products with the specified names and suppliers, and the human albumin and immunoglobulin purchased by the patients’ families were within the reference price range, so there was no high price and arbitrary charges.
On December 11th, Dr. Chen from ICU of Cenxi People’s Hospital, who was directed to sell immunoglobulin to patients’ families, said that he was at work, so please contact the hospital. Director Huang of the ICU of the hospital said that "the cell phone signal is not good" and hung up the phone.
▲ On September 10th, the doctor called someone to send 8 bottles of immunoglobulin to the doctor’s office, and the patient’s family paid the drug delivery staff 5600 yuan. Image source/interviewee for the picture
Family members questioned doctors’ illegal sales of blood products.
Mr. Zhou told the upstream journalist that on September 8 this year, his mother was transferred from other places to the ICU of Cenxi People’s Hospital in Guangxi for treatment.
According to the opinion of Cenweixin Office [2020] No.6 of Cenxi Health Bureau, after investigation, Mr. Zhou’s mother’s vital signs were unstable when she was admitted to Cenxi People’s Hospital, and she was in a coma, with tracheotomy, obvious infection focus and serious infection in her lungs. After admission, according to the patient’s condition, the doctor judged that the patient had indications to use immunoglobulin and human albumin, and communicated with his family for many times, including informing the patient of the purpose and significance of using human albumin and immunoglobulin, medical risks and so on.
Mr. Zhou told the upstream journalist that Dr. Chen from the ICU of the hospital told him that his mother’s examination results showed that the protein was low, and he needed to input immunoglobulin, and repeatedly asked him to buy it. He didn’t know the specific function of immunoglobulin, and the doctor didn’t explain the situation clearly to him. "According to the idea of ordinary people, since the protein is low, it is necessary to supplement the protein."
Mr. Zhou said that on September 10th, Dr. Chen called someone to send eight bottles of immunoglobulin to the aisle outside the doctor’s office, and he paid the medicine delivery staff a total of 5,600 yuan (each bottle of 700 yuan). On September 12, Mr. Zhou’s mother transferred to the neurosurgery department of the hospital. On the same day, a neurosurgeon called someone to send two bottles of human albumin to the ward in the same way, totaling 1240 yuan (each bottle of 620 yuan). On September 13th and 14th, family members bought 4 bottles of human albumin in the same way, totaling 2480 yuan.
On September 16th, Mr. Zhou’s mother was transferred to ICU again for treatment due to serious lung infection and unstable vital signs. At this time, Mr. Zhou learned from other patients that many pharmacies outside the hospital can also buy human albumin with regular production batch numbers and certificates, and can bring it back for nurses to help with medication. Mr. Zhou found that the price of human albumin sold in outside pharmacies was lower than that of each bottle recommended by doctors, 200 yuan.
On September 27, Mr. Zhou and his family transferred their mother to a higher hospital for treatment. Mr. Zhou has the following doubts: Is it illegal for doctors to recommend others to sell drugs in hospitals? Why do doctors ask other people to deliver drugs and let patients’ families trade with the drug delivery people outside the doctor’s office? Who is the drug delivery person? What’s the relationship with doctors? Are these drugs from a regular source? Does the doctor recommend drugs to other patients as well?
▲ Hospital involved Guangxi Tunxi People’s Hospital is a second-class first-class hospital. Image source/hospital official website screenshot
The hospital admitted that the doctor was "not standardized" and wanted to be private and was rejected.
Mr. Zhou decided to defend his rights. He complained to Cenxi Municipal Market Supervision Administration about the price of drugs.
On October 12th, the staff of Cenxi Municipal Market Supervision Administration replied to Mr. Zhou, saying that Mr. Zhou’s relevant complaint was not within the scope of acceptance: the price of blood products purchased by Mr. Zhou was within the market-adjusted price range, and the source of drugs could not be determined. It was suggested to report it to the local health department.
After Mr. Zhou complained, on October 11th, the staff of Patient Service Department of Cenxi People’s Hospital contacted Mr. Zhou. The staff member said on the phone that it is recommended that Mr. Zhou "settle privately" with the person who sells blood products, and the hospital will promote the other party to refund. Mr. Zhou said many times that the doctor in the hospital called someone to send the medicine, and the doctor should bear the corresponding responsibility.
In the recording of more than 40 minutes between the two sides, the hospital staff repeatedly asked Mr. Zhou’s opinion: "What can the hospital do to satisfy you?" "can you settle it?"
Mr. Zhou has repeatedly said that he hopes to handle it fairly in accordance with hospital rules and regulations and give him feedback on the results. The other party said that the problem would be submitted to the hospital party Committee and the president’s office meeting.
▲ On September 27th, the discharge record provided by Cenxi People’s Hospital to the patient’s family. Image source/provided by interviewee
On October 13th, Director Huang of ICU of our hospital explained his mother’s medication to Mr. Zhou on the phone. Director Huang said that the use of immunoglobulin recommended by ICU doctors is in line with the treatment conditions of Mr. Zhou’s mother. "Why did the doctor call someone to deliver the medicine and trade it in the office?" Director Huang admitted that doctors in this hospital have irregular operations, but most of them are in this mode. "It’s not just our family."
Director Huang asked Mr. Zhou, how can this matter stop here? Can we go to the hospital to solve it privately? And said that he can refund the money he bought.
Mr. Zhou said that on October 15, Dr. Chen from the ICU of the hospital apologized to him on the phone, hoping to reach a settlement and get an understanding. Mr. Zhou asked Dr. Chen, where did the drugs come from? Dr. Chen admitted the fact that he sent someone to take the medicine to the office for trading, but "the source of the medicine is not clear to him." Dr. Chen said that the drug used to be purchased by hospitals, and it must be regular and qualified, and patients will not have problems after using it.
▲ On October 29th, the Health and Health Bureau of Tunxi City, Guangxi Province issued an acceptance notice for Mr. Zhou’s complaint about "unreasonable charges in hospitals". Image source/interviewee for the picture
The upstream journalist learned that in December 2013, the National Health and Family Planning Commission and the state administration of traditional chinese medicine formulated and promulgated the "Nine Prohibitions for Strengthening the Construction of Medical and Health Work Style", which clearly stipulated that medical institutions and medical and health personnel "are strictly prohibited from participating in the marketing activities of pharmaceutical products, food, health care products and other commodities" and "it is strictly forbidden to seek illegitimate interests by taking advantage of their practice, and it is strictly forbidden to accept drugs, medical devices and health care products.
▲ On December 1st, the Health and Health Bureau of Tunxi City sent a complaint handling opinion to Mr. Zhou, saying that the doctor did not participate in the purchase behavior, and the patient’s family thought it was not true. Image source/interviewee for the picture
Family members refused to accept the opinions of the Health and Health Bureau and insisted on investigating according to regulations.
On November 26th, Cenxi Municipal Bureau of Health and Wellness issued a letter of opinion on handling letters and visits (Cenweixin Office [2020] No.6) to Mr. Zhou.
According to the submission, "Because there was no human albumin and immunoglobulin in the hospital pharmacy at that time, from the perspective of use safety, the hospital suggested that patients could purchase qualified drugs and biological products through the shared prescription platform, or they could purchase qualified biological products themselves … The hospital doctor did not explicitly ask the patient’s family members to buy and use the biological products of the specified name and supplier, and the doctor did not participate in the purchase behavior."
The submission also stated that "the human albumin and immunoglobulin purchased by the patient’s family are within the reference price range, and there is no high price and arbitrary charges."
Mr. Zhou said, "The content of the opinion is inconsistent with the facts."
Mr. Zhou told reporters that total recall, the staff of Cenxi People’s Hospital Office, the director of ICU and the ICU doctor, showed that the doctor admitted to recommending drugs to the patients’ families and asked them to trade with the drug delivery person in the doctor’s office.
On December 11th, the upstream journalist called the Health and Wellness Bureau of Cenxi City. The staff of the Medical Affairs Unit of the Bureau said that the People’s Hospital of Cenxi City had "settled privately" with Mr. Zhou’s father, and the hospital had investigated clearly and reported the relevant situation to the Bureau.
Mr. Zhou made it clear to reporters that neither he nor his father agreed to the "private" requirements put forward by the hospital and doctors, did not go to the hospital to ask for a refund, and did not understand the hospital and doctors. "It’s not just a few phone calls to apologize, or I will forgive you for visiting."
Mr. Zhou said that it is not easy for ordinary people to make money, and it is even more difficult to see a doctor. When they know that there are illegal operations in the hospital, they ask the hospital to deal with them according to the rules and regulations. In the future, everyone will be more transparent in seeing a doctor. "It is definitely not to deal with any problems written in the opinion. Finally, the hospital helped the doctor cover up the truth."
Mr. Zhou also said that on October 28, he complained to the Health Bureau of Tunxi City, and the other party did not contact him at all after receiving the notice, but transferred the complaint to the People’s Hospital of Tunxi City for self-examination. He believes that as a higher-level competent department, the Health and Wellness Bureau of Cenxi City has dereliction of duty.
On the same day, the upstream journalist once again called the Medical Affairs Unit of the Health and Wellness Bureau of Cenxi City to inform Mr. Zhou that the family did not agree to "settle privately" with the hospital, and the staff said that they would understand the matter. Since then, the reporter has contacted the medical and political unit many times and has not received a reply.
On December 11th, Dr. Chen from the ICU of the hospital, who was selling drugs to patients’ families, told the upstream journalist that he was at work, so please contact the hospital. The reporter also verified the situation with Director Huang of the ICU of the hospital. Director Huang said that he "had a bad cell phone signal" and immediately hung up.
On December 11th, upstream journalists repeatedly called the patient service department of Cenxi People’s Hospital, but no one answered. On December 13, the staff of the patient service department of the hospital told reporters that this matter was mainly handled by the department director, and he did not know the specific situation, but he would inform the director to reply to the reporter. However, as of press time, no reply has been received.
Mr. Zhou told reporters that he would pursue it to the end.
Upstream journalist Wang Min
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