Wednesday, December 7, 2011

The Hippocratic Oath is not existing in China !

Be careful if you are long-term in China, better make sure you have correct medical insurance which will help you to save your life, in case you have any kind of serious accident, emergency etc.

Short story about a very good friend:
Since 18 years in HK & China. Permanent HK resident, 50 years old.
2.5 years ago lost his job & a lot of money with some of his "good friends chinese business partners".
Close to be broke.
Married with a Chinese.
Stayed in Hangzhou & Hong Kong.
Before Christmas 2009 suddenly got a big headache burning like fire.
Got heavy black spots under the eyes. Jumped in a plane from Hangzhou to Shenzhen to his wife home.
Broke down the next day:
Rupture of a brain aneurysm.
His wife brought him to the emergency unit of a Shenzhen hospital.
No insurance coverage.
To make the surgery they demanded to put RMB 120,000.00 on the table.
This took the wife some time to arrange.
Her husband was left alone in the hospital floor with a surely still heavily rupture of the aneurysm.
It took somewhat more than 12 hours before they started to conduct the surgery (only after receiving the cash).
Surely this was much too late.
After surgery he was in coma.
After one week we arranged his transfer to Hong Kong, where he was several weeks still in coma & then being transferred to an elderly home.
Now being supported by Hong Kong welfare.
CT scans of his brain are not very positive.
He cannot talk.
We do not know if he recognizes anybody.
He is in a state "trapped in his own body".
Totally depending on nursery.
Here is a link of what the HIPPOCRATIC OATH means:
From Wikipedia click here.
This is the China version excerpt.
And here another story where doctors & nurses did not follow the Hippocratic oath

So in China you need to pay first before they are willing to save your life, as long as you not having a super insurance or are some relative or "princeling" of some heavy-weight officials or other "important person". 
This is totally against the HIPPOCRATIC OATH !
I was long thinking if I should put the photo of my friend here on that blog - maybe some people might consider it "not right" or "unethical" or some kind of problem of breaking some law - I dont care right now about this concerns.
Because it makes me angry to know that if they would have started much earlier with the surgery this man could be much better today !
12 hours with a rupture in a lousy cold Shenzhen hospital floor & the doctors waiting for the cash come down on the table ?
What would this man be maybe much better today if they would have started the surgery immediately after he was admitted by his wife into the emergency unit ?
UPDATE: PHOTO DELETED TODAY
Reminder: Make sure you have a good & solid medical insurance valid also for the MAINLAND CHINA if you are often travelling in China. Carry the card with your insurance number + other details always with you.

No comments: