Chinese man undergoing US$116 circumcision told he needs US$11,600 worth of surgery

A hospital in northern China that pressured a man undergoing a circumcision into having additional procedures costing 100 times his original estimate while he lay on the operating table has had its business licence revoked, according to a local media report.

Xin Yu, 29, was told by doctors at Modern Hospital in Tangshan, Hebei province, that the initial procedure would cost 800 yuan (US$116), news website Thepaper.cn reported on Tuesday.

But when he was in theatre, the surgeon told him he had found three cysts that also needed to be removed, and that the total cost for all of the work would be 80,000 yuan.

“The doctor briefly showed me an image of the cysts,” Xin said. “I didn’t see it clearly, but he told me to lie down on the bed immediately.”

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After the operation, Xin was asked to settle up, but as the total exceeded his credit card limit he paid what he could and wrote an IOU to the hospital for 60,000 yuan, the report said.

After local media reported the incident, which happened at the start of the month, health authorities in the city ordered the privately run hospital to close pending an investigation.

On Monday, inspectors announced that they had revoked the hospital’s operating licence and fined it 53,000 yuan, the report said.

It did not say if Xin would be compensated for his losses.

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However, he is not the first Chinese man to lose more than he bargained for after booking himself in for a circumcision operation.

In May, a student from Nanning, capital of southern China’s Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, was told by doctors at Yuandong Hospital in the city, that he too needed extra surgery.

After being quoted 700 yuan for the initial operation, he ended up paying 12,800 yuan, local media reported at the time. The case is still under investigation.