So “rogues” try to scam birth docs by creating a potentially violent scene in order to sue them, and China already has a birth rate on par with that of developed countries.
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Don’t make obstetricians practice martial arts
Wan Lixin
2006-12-14
EACH morning some people practice kongfu in front of a hospital in Sanmenxia, Henan Province. Not the slow-motion qigong, but martial arts. They are hospital medical staff.
As doctor-patient confrontations become more violent and bloodier, these doctors and nurses hope that being better physically prepared can help them protect themselves if necessary.
Among these people, those most in need of such training are probably the obstetrics staff, probably the most understaffed, overworked, and most vulnerable to litigation.
According to statistics from national medical authorities, of the publicized medical malpractice cases and lawsuits in recent years, those in obstetrics often account for the highest proportion.
The true situation can be more serious. Fearing bad publicity or regulatory punishment, medical staff often favor out-of-court settlements, the amount of which is usually proportional to the ferocity of the trouble-makers who make complaint and threaten to file suit.
The smallest injury is enough to lead to a big medical conflict, given parents’ rising expectations for their pregnant children - often their only ones - and the possibility of high damages.
Hence the emergence of yinao, rogues who can be hired to pursue misconduct cases in order to extort higher compensation. That means they usually resort to creating scenes at hospitals.
Some factors make obstetricians particularly vulnerable to litigation.
Unlike other patients who are usually hospitalized with a complaint, pregnant women are often perceived as healthy persons.
To a certain extent they are - childbearing is a natural process.
But what is unknown to laymen patients and many others is that pregnancy and delivery can be extremely risky and support of the fetus puts great strain on the vital organs of the mother.
As handling pregnancy, delivery and related complications is highly empirical, experienced obstetricians can have serious differences as to what correct procedures are.
But this is generally unknown to the patient. Thus when a patient dies from a physical injury, the relatives are more or less resigned to it.
However, in the case of an obstetrical incident, the parents’ initial high expectations for their child quickly turn into anger directed against the medical staff.
Traditionally in China it was axiomatic that when a pregnant woman was giving birth, she had one foot in a coffin. Whatever the result was attributed to the mysterious hand, the wanton dispenser of life and death.
Mission impossible
Seen as omniscient and omnipotent, the obstetrics staff today are held fully culpable for any untoward incidents.
The advances in medical science tend to make us place too much faith in what technology is capable of.
In Shanghai, the average number of fatal cases of pregnant women in a year is already little different from that in developed countries.
This has been achieved with far less adequate medical resources compared with that in developed countries.
And we must allow for the fact that most of these women are migrant workers who cannot afford regular check-ups during their pregnancy.
So society in general should appreciate the contribution of medical staff.
Worsening patient-doctor relations, rising litigation and long hours are forcing some obstetricians to abandon their chosen field - a field that many medical students shun for these very reasons.
A shortage will further strain our limited medical resources. We must learn from the lessons in the US.
In recent years, rising medical malpractice suits and skyrocketing insurance rates are forcing some American physicians to drop obstetrics.
Medical students there are increasingly choosing not to specialize in obstetrics.
Naturally this would result in fewer health care options for pregnant women.