Depressed Shanghai doctor leaps to death allegedly over conflicts with patients

A depressed doctor leapt eight floors to his death from a Shanghai hospital, sparking a debate on whether it was driven by arguments with his patients – a common occurrence that often turns violent in the mainland.

Zhang Shilin, a urology surgeon working at the Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Centre in Xuhui district, jumped from the building, which is some 20 storeys high, at around 12.30pm on Monday, shortly after visiting another hospital for depression treatment.

His friends and peers have speculated Zhang was under mental stress due to doctor-patient conflicts.

A spokeswoman of Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Centre told the South China Morning Post today this was “pure rumour” and that the causes of depression are complicated.

“[Zhang] has been receiving medical treatment for his chronic depression for a long time … but he could not walk away from the disease [standing up],” the hospital wrote on its official microblog account on Sina Weibo.

But Zhang’s university classmate, Song Dianwen, an orthopaedics specialist at Shanghai Changzheng Hospital, revealed in a widely shared blog post that several people close to the late surgeon said Zhang was depressed by his strained relationship with his patients’ relatives.

“I don’t mean to provoke doctor-patient conflict. I am merely hoping for more understanding on the work pressures that doctors, especially surgeons, are burdened with,” Song said. The blog post was shared more than 2,000 times.