Chinese authorities have launched an investigation into a shocking incident at a hospital, where a surgeon is accused of physically assaulting a patient mid-operation.
The incident, which occurred in 2019 but only recently gained public attention, involved the surgeon allegedly hitting an 82-year-old female patient several times in the head during an eye surgery. Captured on video, the incident quickly spread on Chinese social media, causing widespread indignation.
The hospital in question, part of Aier China’s network of eye hospitals, is located in Guigang, a city in southwestern China. According to Aier China, the patient experienced discomfort from the local anaesthesia, leading to involuntary head and eye movements during the procedure. Communication issues arose, as the patient spoke a local dialect and seemingly did not understand the surgeon’s Mandarin warnings, prompting the surgeon’s aggressive response.
Following the surgery, the hospital management offered an apology and compensated the patient’s family with 500 yuan. However, the patient’s son revealed that his mother suffered from bruises and, more alarmingly, is now blind in her left eye, although it is unclear if this resulted from the incident.
Aier China has taken disciplinary actions, suspending the surgeon, who also served as the hospital dean, and dismissing the hospital’s CEO. These actions were taken for “serious violations” of the group’s regulations, which also included other unmentioned offenses.
The case resurfaced when Dr. Ai Fen, a prominent Chinese doctor known for her early warnings during the Wuhan pandemic outbreak, shared the CCTV footage on her Weibo account, where she has over two million followers. Dr. Ai has been in legal conflicts with Aier China since 2021 after she claimed to have nearly lost sight in one eye following a surgery at one of their facilities, a claim the hospital group denies.