Fatal stabbing of Chinese doctor fuels calls for stronger laws to protect medical staff
- Attacks against China’s doctors reflect pressures on professionals, lack of medical resources and patient frustrations, observers say
A doctor in eastern China has died after being stabbed by a man reported to be the relative of a patient, igniting public anger and fuelling calls for stronger punishment for violence targeting medical staff.
Li Sheng, a cardiologist from the First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, was stabbed on Friday afternoon while working in the outpatient clinic. He died later that night after emergency treatment failed, the hospital said in a statement on Saturday.
Local police said on Friday the attacker jumped from a building after stabbing Li and was still undergoing treatment. His identity and motives are not yet clear.
“Such incidents not only harm the legal rights of medical staff but also sabotage the order of medical services and harm the rights of the public,” the NHC said in a statement. “We have zero tolerance for any kind of attack on medical staff.”