Hospital accused of rejecting pregnant patient, leading to her death

Health authorities in Daqing, Northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province announced on Sunday that it has suspended some medical staff from working after their hospital was accused of refusing a pregnant woman under the excuse of no vacancy, leading to her death.

A post has gone viral online claiming that doctors at the Daqing Oilfield General Hospital issued a notice of hospitalization on October 30 for the woman surname Liu who was about to give birth, but the gynecology and obstetrics department did not receive her because there was no bed available. The woman then died on Tuesday after suffering from water breaking and bleeding and invalid treatment, six days after giving birth.

The post, which was allegedly written by the victim’s husband surnamed Yan, said that after being rejected by the hospital around 9:30 am on October 30, the couple had to go home. But on the way back home, his wife’s water broke and she began to bleed. They had to go back to the hospital around 1 pm, but received no help from the medical staff.

When the chair was soaked with bloody water after half an hour, a doctor finally came and issued a hospitalization notice for them.

“During the past five hours, except from a kindly security guard who helped parking the car, no medical staff came to ask whether we need treatment,” he said.

Liu’s mother told the local newspaper Modern Evening Times on Saturday that Liu’s body was under autopsy on Wednesday and cremated on Thursday. But the hospital still did not reveal the cause of her death. The newborn baby is under recovery.

Liu’s family claimed that Liu died because the doctors delayed her treatment and demanded the hospital give an explanation and hold the related people legally accountable.

A preliminary investigation conducted by the Daqing Health and Family Planning Commission showed that the couple was told to get hospitalized on another hospital in the morning but Yan admitted that they did not go to another hospital, which is 20-minute drive from the Daqing Oilfield General Hospital.

The investigation said before the surgery, aside from a nurse who has been sitting in front of her computer, other medical staff accompanied her the whole time.

The investigation said Liu gave birth to a baby around 3 pm with cesarean delivery and she was transferred for ICU. She finally died of invalid rescue.