Medical dispute cases see significant decline

in which litigants claimed compensation for medical disputes, down by 7.5 percent year-onyear. Of those cases, 6,489 were resolved through mediation, while 3,572 were withdrawn.

The data did not include figures for criminal cases.

“We’ve cooperated with health authorities to take measures to reduce conflicts, such as introducing stricter punishments and setting up mediation centers at hospitals, and we are starting to reap the rewards” said Ma Yan, a deputy judge at the top court’s No 5 Criminal Tribunal.

“There has been a decrease in disputes, but the negative effects of individual cases is still a significant issue,” Ma said, adding that courts at all levels have been ordered to severely punish crimes related to medical conflicts. percent

On Monday, He Zhengping of Hunan province was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve after he attempted to kill the 10-year-old son of a doctor at a township hospital over a dispute about medical fees.

“It is understandable that some patients might want to express their grievances about insufficient medical resources and ineffective treatments, but venting their anger by harming medical workers is the worst way in which to do so,” said Xu Yong jun, another judge at the tribunal.

“In addition to severe punishments, solving medical disputes requires intervention by legal workers ahead of lawsuits,” Xu added.

In December, a court in Qingdao, Shandong province, set up a center at a major hospital for judges to provide legal aid to patients “to mediate disputes at an early stage”, Xu said.

Guo Yanhong, deputy director of medical administration at the National Health and Family Planning Commission, said mediation services have been introduced at hospitals at provincial and city levels.

In addition, 85 percent of large-scale hospitals have had police offices built in them, and more than 6,000 have installed alarm systems that are connected to the local public security network, Guo said.

of large-scale hospitals in China have had police offices built in them.

LU BOAN / XINHUA Dong ethnic people harvest tea leaves in Sanjiang county, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, on Thursday. More than 200,000 people in the county are employed in the tea processing industry.