Chinese doctors’ selfie with unconscious patient sparks controversy

Three doctors in the photos have been removed from their posts while others were given warnings.

A dozen doctors in China’s Shaanxi province received administrative punishment for taking group selfies next to a patient undergoing surgery, reported IANS.

The photos which were widely shared on WeChat, China’s popular social networking application, sparked anger among people.

They show doctors smiling and posing in front of an unconscious patient lying on the operating table. According to an investigation conducted by the bureau, the photos were taken on August 15, 2014, in the old surgery room of Fengcheng Hospital in Xi’an.



The pictures were taken as a memoriam to the old operating room which was witnessing its last surgery. The bureau also dealt administrative punishments to the directors of the hospital and imposed fines.

Another picture has been widely circulated ,shows the doctors and nurses linking arms next to the unconscious patient, whilst smiling behind their surgical mask, as two other surgeons continue to finish the procedure, stated the South China Morning Post.

It doesn’t end here as the group of doctors is seen making victory signs in another picture which is followed by another snap where the doctor poses holding an intravenous drip bag in his hand with the patient still unconscious. The hospital said it would try to improve the management of its medical staff in the future.



“We won’t release any private information about the patient, like age, gender or what the operation was. What we are going to do now is to make a month-long rectification to manage medical staff,” said a director of the hospital’s medical affairs department, who requested anonymity.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald the surgical table selfies attracted more than 8 million hits and in the process became the second-most discussed topic on China’s Twitter-like website. Several microbloggers took to the website, Weibo, to express their anger and dismay at such an incident.

There have been several reports of incidents, including violence, against hospital staff by disgruntled patients over the years and the event seems to have increased the already persisting tension between doctors and patients. Three of the doctors displayed in the photos have been removed from their administrative posts while the others have been given administrative warnings, said the health bureau of Xi’an city. Apart from that, Chinese health authorities have also put the hospital president on probation and fired three other supervisors following public outrage over the photos, whereas some of the doctors seen in the photo have had their salaries docked for the next three months.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 24^th, 2014.

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