China police hospital temporarily shuts doors amid scandal

Chinese police hospital temporarily closes its doors to new patients after a scandal over the death of a 21-year-old college student.

The 301 Military Hospital in Beijing on July 6, 2011.
TRT World and Agencies

The 301 Military Hospital in Beijing on July 6, 2011.

The Second Hospital of Beijing Armed Police Corps has temporarily closed its doors to new patients after a scandal over the death of a college student who had sought experimental cancer treatment at the hospital, state media reported on Wednesday.

The hospital has stopped new admissions, a day after the health ministry launched an investigation into the hospital, according to state-run People's Daily.

Wei Zexi, 21, who developed a rare form of cancer, found information about the disease on the domestic search engine Baidu Inc which is being probed over the case.

Wei had searched Baidu for the best place for treatment, finding a department under the Second Hospital of Beijing Armed Police Corps that offered an experimental treatment.

The student later went to the hospital for treatment, but died last month due to the experimental treatment that ultimately failed.

Before he died, Wei accused Baidu of promoting false medical information and the hospital for misleading advertisements that claimed a high success rate for the treatment.

The search engine Baidu said it deeply regretted Wei's death and would cooperate fully with the investigation in a statement.

The hospital announced it will temporarily suspend all external services, including emergency care, outpatient and inpatient services due to the hospital undergoing education and rectification. The notice was posted on the People's Daily.

China's paramilitary police, which ran the hospital, said it would cooperate fully with the probe.

"Problems that are discovered will be seriously investigated and handled in accordance with the law, and there will be no compromises," the People's Armed Police said, in a statement released on the Chinese military's news website (www.81.cn).

It claimed that they pay great attention to Wei's case and had already sent its own team to the hospital.

The People's Armed Police are a paramilitary force that answers to the powerful Central Military Commission, which is in charge of the military and headed by President Xi Jinping.

Healthcare is a flashpoint for many people in China, who have long faced issues from ticket touts illegally trading appointment tickets, snarling queues to see top doctors and rampant corruption that can push up the cost of receiving care.

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