◎August 2010: Shenzhen police released the appraisal opinion letter. The Shenzhen Phoenix Hospital located at No. 1062, East Shen Nan Road, Luohu District, Shenzhen, is now closed with no signs of life. Several panel trucks and minibuses are parked on the vacant land in front of the hospital. The entrance has become a parking lot.
Before this, the investors of Phoenix Hospital had submitted an application for renaming to the Shenzhen Health Commission. After reopening at the original site, "Shenzhen Phoenix Hospital" will cease to exist, replaced by "Shenzhen Othman Urology Hospital."
"Zhang Jirong is a midwife, not a doctor, and cannot do what doctors do. Furthermore, even if it's hemorrhoids, it's not the obstetrician but the proctologist who should be consulted to determine the treatment plan," Zhuo Xiaoqin believed. This type of hemorrhoid appearing on a postpartum woman was very normal and not an emergency situation, "the bleeding would soon stop. It wouldn't cause serious consequences and should be reported to the obstetrician."
◎July 23, 2010: Chen Cheng suspected that his wife Lin Jing had her anus stitched during childbirth and thus informed the media. The "stitching anus" incident caused a great stir.
The relevant person in charge of the hospital admitted that this move was out of necessity. After the "stitching anus" incident, the number of patients seeking medical care at the hospital sharply decreased, severely damaging the hospital's credibility.
In Zhuo Xiaoqin's view, due to the significant disparity in professional knowledge between patients and doctors, Chen Cheng's previous statements could be understood.
The "Approval" stated: Your hospital (Phoenix Hospital) submitted the application materials regarding the suspension of medical services at Shenzhen Phoenix Hospital. Considering your hospital's actual situation, according to the relevant regulations of medical institution management, after research, our committee agrees with your hospital's closure. The closure period will be from August 8, 2011, to August 8, 2012.
"Before the medical incident was thoroughly investigated, Mr. Chen's statement was based on his own understanding towards the media. After the recognition by Shenzhen 'Health Commission', Mr. Chen did not insist on the claim of stitching the anus anymore, without malicious infringement." Therefore, Zhuo Xiaoqin believed the court's judgment was unfair.
◎July 30, 2010: Shenzhen Health Commission announced the investigation results, stating there was no evidence proving the midwife stitched the parturient's anus closed.
"The decision should be made according to the hospital's actual situation and her personal wishes." When asked whether Zhang Jirong would continue to work at the hospital, the relevant person in charge gave an unclear answer.
For instance, in the Shenzhen "stitching anus" incident: the midwife accused of stitching the parturient's anus, Zhang Jirong, won the reputation infringement lawsuit. The court ruled there was no evidence showing that Zhang Jirong stitched the anus of the parturient Lin Jing (a pseudonym), and Lin Jing's husband Chen Cheng (a pseudonym) had to apologize and pay compensation; the couple who lost the lawsuit then sued again, no longer focusing on whether the anus was stitched but instead investigating whether Zhang Jirong practiced beyond her scope.
Compared to the emphasis on procedures by academic experts, Li Qingchen, a cardiothoracic surgeon at Harbin Children's Hospital, although also believing that "correct procedures are important for doctors," as a frontline clinical worker, he was somewhat conflicted about whether "procedures or outcome justice" was more important.
Written and photographed by reporter Chen Xuechao and Cao Jianmin
"She cries every day and can't get over being stitched. Her formerly outgoing personality has completely changed," said Chen Cheng.
Event Recap
Zhang Jirong, 46 years old, with twenty years of midwifery experience, is a midwife in the obstetrics department of Shenzhen Phoenix Hospital. Not long after the incident, she received the hospital's handling decision to leave her post for inspection and study. On the evening of October 21, reporters attempted to contact Zhang Jirong herself, but her 11-year-old son answered the phone, "Mom went out, I don't know where she went," said Zhang's son.
The background is the currently strained doctor-patient relationship.
This was a war without absolute winners. After this storm, Lin Jing was diagnosed by the hospital with depression, "constantly wanting to throw the child and having suicidal tendencies multiple times." Due to the need to take care of his wife, Chen Cheng could no longer work outside after the incident. He claimed to have been harassed by the "mafia" and had moved house twice.
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After this turmoil, the future of this reformed private hospital remains unknown. Similarly uncertain is the career of midwife Zhang Jirong.
Li Tian Tian prefers to believe Zhang Jirong's statement that "the parturient had hemorrhoidal bleeding, compression hemostasis was ineffective, so the hemorrhoid core was ligated," because professionally speaking, it was impossible to stitch the parturient's anus during gynecological surgery.
After losing the reputation dispute case, Lin Jing filed a lawsuit on April 20 of this year, citing medical damage: demanding the court to rule that Zhang Jirong and Phoenix Hospital compensate for various losses exceeding 200,000 yuan and publicly apologize.
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◎August 2010: Midwife Zhang Jirong pushed Chen Cheng and two media outlets onto the defendant's bench.
Two "Helpless Measures"
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Deputy Director of Guangdong Provincial Health Department, Liao Xinbo, believed that this event was similar to "curing a disease worth 100,000 yuan for 80 cents", with exaggeration and inaccuracy, making it "an embarrassing event imposed on the medical field."
A Quiet Change
Due to inability to accept the investigation conclusion reached by the Shenzhen Health Commission, Chen Cheng immediately reported the case to the police. On August 12, 2010, the police concluded their appraisal: around the parturient's anus, circular prolapsed hemorrhoids were seen, with edema. The prolapse was at the 9 o'clock position, with visible black silk thread ligation.
The judgment issued by Luohu District People's Court showed that the court believed the investigation report made by the Shenzhen Health and Family Planning Commission (referred to as Shenzhen 'Health Commission') after the incident, "was issued after a detailed investigation of the event. The investigators had related professional knowledge, and the investigation procedure also complied with legal provisions. Its content is consistent with the appraisal opinion letter later issued by the public security organs, hence it can be used as the basis for recognizing the facts of the case. According to the determination of the aforementioned investigation report, there is no evidence showing that the plaintiff implemented the act of stitching the parturient's anus, therefore the court does not recognize the defendant's claim that the plaintiff stitched the parturient's anus."
"For ordinary people who do not understand medical knowledge and the anatomy structure of the anus, a reasonable inference would naturally be that the anus was stitched. For ordinary people, this is very normal."
"If using suturing to close the patient's anus as a way of revenge, it does not conform to basic logic. Even if the perpetrator, unless reaching a level of madness where both would perish, would not use such a method that would be discovered immediately." Said the online post.
A widely circulated online post on Tianya revealed different interpretations of "stitching anus." This post believed that the Shenzhen "stitching anus" confused "completely closing the anus" and "suturing (or ligating) the bleeding point of the anal hemorrhoids." In the eyes of the general public, "stitching anus" means "for the sake of a red envelope, the anus is sutured closed, preventing defecation!" From the perspective of doctors, the so-called "stitching anus" might "be due to excessive intra-abdominal pressure during childbirth causing hemorrhoidal bleeding, resulting in the midwife suturing (or ligating) the bleeding point of the hemorrhoids temporarily."
The largest domestic medical professional exchange platform, DXY website, responsible person Li Tian Tian, when interviewed by the media, indicated that this meant the parturient's anus was not sutured. Baidu Encyclopedia shows that this exchange platform adheres to the concept of "independent, non-profit, purely academic" exchange.
"This case's interpretation of 'stitching anus' is extremely absurd." Zhuo is a professor of health law at Beijing University of Chinese Medicine and a well-known legal expert in medical malpractice cases within the industry. His other identity is the agent for Lin Jing's lawsuit against Zhang Jirong and Shenzhen Phoenix Hospital for medical damages.
Lawyer Deng Hui said that Zhang Jirong's current state is good because "she won the lawsuit, and there is no psychological burden anymore."
Deng Hui indicated that Zhang Jirong still has resistance towards the media.
Deng is Zhang's attorney. At the beginning of this year, Zhang Jirong filed a lawsuit against Chen Cheng to the Luohu District People's Court of Shenzhen and won the defamation lawsuit.
The first relocation saw the couple moving to "Kingkey 100," the tallest building in Shenzhen. "Besides avoiding harassment, it was also to give my wife and child a better environment. That was a high-end community, and at the time, I still had some money." Five months later, Chen Cheng relocated again, as living off savings made it impossible to continue paying the high rent. Now, Chen Cheng's family of three rents a one-bedroom apartment for 1100 RMB per month. Because of "fear that she would throw the child from upstairs," there is no sofa or bed in the rented apartment. Lin Jing and the child usually sleep on a mattress laid on the ground, while Chen Cheng sleeps on the floor.
From July 2010 to now, 16 months have passed. It wasn't a long time, but it could change a lot.
"Stitching Anus"
Chen Cheng provided the complaint to our newspaper showing that things had quietly changed: although the incident originated from "the parturient's anus being stitched by the midwife," the complaint did not mention "stitching anus" but instead described it as "the plaintiff (Lin Jing) suffered from the 'hemorrhoid surgery' performed by defendant Zhang Jirong leading to the suturing of the anal area."
This is the third "innocent conclusion" reached by official institutions after the "stitching anus" incident. Based on this, the court recognized Chen Cheng's defamation behavior, requiring him to apologize and compensate Zhang Jirong with 30,000 RMB for mental distress. The first "innocent conclusion" was made by the Shenzhen Health Commission on July 30, 2010. In this investigation report, the Shenzhen Health Commission believed: there was no evidence indicating the parturient's anus was sutured.
This dramatic "reversal" came quietly, yet repeated the fate curve of several highly concerned doctor-patient disputes today—patients, due to insufficient professional knowledge, misunderstood the treatment methods adopted by the hospital, followed by a "sudden storm"...
Three "Innocent Conclusions"