A MAN in China died of smoke inhalation on the operating table after his doctors fled from a fire in the hospital, the latest scandal to strike a Chinese hospital after a series of botched operations and riots over poor patient care.
A 49-year-old man surnamed Zhu was having his leg amputated following a traffic accident when a fire broke out in a room adjoining the operating theatre at the Shanghai No 3 People’s Hospital, a relative told Xinhua news agency.
The operation was almost done when a steriliser went on fire. A nurse tried to extinguish the fire but failed to stop the smoke spreading quickly through the theatre. All six medical workers, including doctors, nurses and an anaesthetist, fled the scene.
“We saw smoke coming from the window of the operating room. Then doctors and nurses dashed out. When we asked about the patient, they said he was still inside,” Mr Zhu’s brother-in-law said.
Rescue workers prevented the medical staff from returning to the operating room, and by the time they got back to Mr Zhu, who had been given a general anaesthetic, he appeared to have suffocated. His nephew, surnamed Jin, said that there were no obvious burns on Mr Zhu’s remains.
China’s underfunded medical system is creaking under the weight of huge demand and health insurance remains fairly rudimentary, putting major pressure on the public system.
Earlier this week, hundreds of people fought at a hospital in Nanchang in Jiangxi province after a patient died during an operation.
About 100 relatives and friends of the dead patient, some of them carrying spears, were demanding an explanation for the death when they were ambushed by a similar number of men, armed with clubs and iron bars, who chased them and smashed up their cars, the South China Morning Postreported.