Doctors' body files landmark complaint over 'false' reports

Move aims to prevent attacks on medical staff

The Chinese Medical Doctor Association (CMDA) has filed the first complaint to the All-China Journalists Association (ACJA) against a reporter for "failing to offer truth" in reports regarding medical incidents, amid a recent wave of reflection over the media's role in the country's widening doctor-patient disputes.

"Some reporters were extremely irresponsible and their reports were of a vile nature that maliciously caused damage to the doctor-patient relationship. The reporter in our complaint is one of them," Deng Liqiang, director of the legal affairs department of the association, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Deng didn't reveal the name of the reporter, but cited two stories written by the reporter.

In one story published in 2010, a nurse in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong province, allegedly sewed up the anus of a woman during labor because the nurse did not receive a good tip. It turned out the nurse applied a ligature treatment to cure the woman's bleeding hemorrhoids, although it violated professional practice.

Another report published earlier this year was about a self-claimed whistle-blower and doctor, who was banned from practicing.

The references led to wide speculations that Chai Huiqun, a reporter with the Southern Weekly, was the reporter in question. The CMDA also wrote on its Sina Weibo in April that it was preparing a complaint against Chai.

"I haven't received any notice from the ACJA and had no knowledge of the report until it went viral. As for the accusations against my reports, what is the truth in the eyes of the CMDA? What is their proof?" Chai told the Global Times.

Some Net users stood by Chai, viewing the complaint as a fight back from the "corrupt" medical industry against the media.

However, Wang Zhi'an, an investigative reporter from China Central Television, pointed out that Chai has written several false reports, including the "notorious" ones cited by the CMDA.

"Many reporters now value social impact more than accuracy. If Chai could be condemned or even punished by the ACJA, this will be a good lesson for all reporters to be more cautious with their stories," Wang told the Global Times.

The complaint came as public reaction toward unprofessional media reports and conflicts between patients' families and medical staff saw a U-turn after reports of a woman's death during a complicated birth in Hunan province.

According to the hospital, the woman's death on August 10 was a result of an amniotic fluid embolism, a highly dangerous but rare condition. But the media headlines stated that the woman was in "tears of blood" and "died a tragic death," immediately triggering public criticism of the hospital. The woman's family later confessed to a violent break-in at the operation room that scared away the medical staff.

"Those shocking headlines implied that the death was another medical accident caused by irresponsible doctors. It marked another 'typical' report about patient-doctor relations," Deng noted.

Tense doctor-patient relations in China have led to a spate of violent assaults on doctors.

The CMDA is mulling over an institutionalized solution to false reports on medical incidents, including lodging complaints or lawsuits, so as to foster rational media reports, according to Deng.

Xia Zhimin, deputy editor-in-chief of dxy.cn, an academic portal for Chinese physicians and life science professionals, said it is necessary for reporters to ask for help from medical experts to avoid false reports.

"From the anus-sewing case to the most recent death due to an amniotic fluid embolism, some reports have been demonizing medical staff and irritating the public. What comes afterward is escalating violence against doctors and nurses. This complaint is a rational protest against those reports," said Xia.