A doctor in north China was left with two broken ribs after being beaten up by a patient who did not agree with his diagnosis. The 36-year-old doctor, named Wu Guang, was on duty at the A&E department in Zhuozhou Hospital in Hubei province on July 16 when he treated the patient, Wang, who was involved in a car accident.
Following a thorough checkup, an x-ray and a CT scan, Wu diagnosed Wang as having minor soft tissue damage and discharged the 57-year-old patient.
However, Wang, reportedly hoping for a more serious diagnosis for insurance purposes, started arguing with the doctor before launching a violent assault on him.
Wang arrived at the hospital at 9:40pm saying he had a headache and pain in his shoulder after being rear-ended in an accident on the night of July 16.
Wu told Jinyun News in a detailed report on Saturday that Wang had left following treatment but returned to the hospital with more than 10 people at about 11.30pm.
One man, presumably one of the patient’s relatives, told the doctor that Wang wasn’t feeling well and asked him to examine him again.
After checking his blood pressure, Wu told Wang that there is nothing wrong with him and suggested that he rest outside in the lobby.
Wang disagreed, insisting that Wu treat him right away. The doctor started arguing with him, telling him there are a lot of patients waiting to be treated at the A&E and asked him to see someone at the outpatient department.
The doctor said as soon as he left the treatment room, Wang started to verbally abuse him in front of stunned patients – to which he responded: ‘This is a hospital, what do you think you’re doing?’
This had apparently angered Wang and his family members, who rushed after the doctor in a rage.
Two traffic police showed up at the scene and stopped the fight. Being the only person on duty that night, Wu said he had to carry on treating patients despite feeling sharp pains in his ribs.
A follow up CT scan showed that he suffered two broken ribs and had to be hospitalised.
Although a police report has been filed, no penalties have been handed out to Wang and his family members for more than three months, according to the report.