A hospital in east China’s Suzhou released a statement on their website on Thursday explaining a written threat they’d received from a patient’s parents. The threatening of violence against a doctor swept around Chinese social media and shocked many after a photo of the written document was released.
The patient, a newborn baby, was diagnosed with neonatal pneumonia, respiratory failure, and neonatal anemia after being sent to the hospital on September 28th. The doctor on duty at the time explained to the child’s family members that the baby was in critical condition. They were told that in accordance with policy, a parent would have to sign a doctor-patient communication record. Aside from signing their name, the parent also wrote, “If the pneumonia treatment is ineffective, causing any serious consequences, I’ll take violent measures!!!”
The family later calmed down and apologized to the doctor on duty, after police got involved in the case.
Violence against doctors and other medical practitioners in China has been reported as an increasing problem. A 35-year-old pediatrician was brutally stabbed 27 times and killed by his patient’s father on October 3rd in east China’s Shandong province. The dad had lost his newborn baby and blamed the doctor for the baby’s death.