Clinic accused of faking prostate disease

A woman has asked for compensation after claiming her brother was subjected to unnecessary treatment for a prostate condition at a private hospital.　

The woman, surnamed Zhang, appealed to the Dongcheng district government Thursday, alleging her brother, Zhang Shengguo, was charged 17,000 yuan ($2,731) after being misdiagnosed at Beijing Tongji Hospital, which specializes in men's health problems.

"They told me to ask the Dongcheng district health bureau to approve a solution plan, then the Dongcheng government and its health bureau will investigate it in the future," said Zhang.

Zhang Shengguo, 25, told the Global Times that he went to Tongji Hospital on December 12, 2012 when he found several white spots on his penis.

The hospital said he required laser and radiation treatment for four days, after the infection had caused prostatitis, or prostate inflammation.　

"But when I went to the General Hospital of Chinese People's Liberation Army and Peking University First Hospital, doctors there told me I had been fooled, I had no prostate problems at all," Zhang Shengguo said.

"When I searched online, its advertisement is everywhere. And it specializes in men's health, so I thought it must be a reliable hospital," he said.

"I was willing to do the treatment because the doctor told me that it might affect my fertility. But after a few days' treatment and as the fee was so high, and because I worried about serious disease, I decided to double-check how serious it really is," he said.

Tongji Hospital president Liu Chunming said he is unsure what happened.

"I'm not in a position to comment about this. Let's keep following it together," said Liu.

Ma Yanming, media officer of Beijing Municipal Health Bureau said people should be cautious when choosing to go to a private hospital.

"Private hospitals are for-profit agencies and pursue profits, so this phenomenon [exaggerating patients' condition] does exist," said Ma.

"That's why we should strengthen supervision of them while allowing the market to have different types of hospital," he said.

"People can dial 12320 and the health supervision department under the municipal health bureau will investigate any problems," said Ma.

"The hospital might be ordered to suspend business, or have their license cancelled, or receive an administrative penalty, or fines, according to the specific situation," he said.

Another man, surnamed Zhou, was also diagnosed with prostatitis during a check-up at Tongji Hospital and paid 6,978 yuan for the first phase of treatment. But two other hospitals said everything was normal with him, according to a Beijing News report Thursday.