Why a US$1,400 ‘flying knife’ operation could cost a Chinese brain surgeon his job

The director of a hospital neurosurgery department in northern China has been suspended from work and is facing an inquiry after footage of him purportedly taking cash for an operation was posted online. The footage was released this month by the 62-year-old patient, surnamed Han, who had a procedure for a cerebral infarction, a blockage or narrowing of an artery that supplies blood to the brain, news website Qq.com reported. In the video, a relative of Han is seen handing 10,000 yuan (US$1,400) in cash to a doctor in an operating theatre at Hongdong County People’s Hospital in rural Shanxi province. The doctor – who was identified in the report as neurosurgery director Wang Bao – invited another specialist, surnamed Song, from Beijing Tiantan Hospital, to perform the operation in July and is alleged to have paid Song for his services. Wang said the brain operation was a success. The practice of doctors from cities going to rural hospitals to do operations in their spare time without telling their employer is known as “flying knife” surgery. It is a long-standing grey area driven by demand from patients in poorer regions where medical staff may not be qualified to deal with complex conditions. Wolf Warrior star Wu Jing wins US$16,900 over hospital advertisement Flying knife doctors can charge tens of thousands of yuan for each procedure. The health authority in Hongdong county launched an inquiry after public uproar over the video footage. Wang was suspended, the report said, but it was not clear what action, if any, had been taken against Song. Wang said flying knife surgery violated the rules, but that “it’s common in hospitals in small cities and counties”, according to the report. It is illegal for city doctors to perform such operations because they are either not registered at town hospitals or they do have not permission from their employers. Regulations demand that patients must pay the hospitals that invited the metropolitan doctors and not give money directly to the medical staff. On social media, internet users took aim at the patient in the Hongdong county case. “How shameful he is!” a Weibo user wrote. “At first he agreed to pay 10,000 yuan for the surgery. That’s why the doctor went to Shanxi from Beijing. But later he took the video and put it online. This man has no credibility at all.” Many said they supported flying knife doctors and the work they did. “My daughter underwent surgery by a Beijing expert who came to Hangzhou for us to do the flying knife,” a parent told news website 163.com. “I am grateful to him. Although we paid some money to this doctor, it saved us the cost of going to Beijing to visit hospitals and staying there for days.” Hong Kong Hospital Authority denies leaking data to police after protesters arrested “If you go to Beijing to seek treatment … it’s quite possible you will end up spending more than 10,000 yuan,” another user wrote. “What’s more, you have to wait for a long time before the big hospital admits you since those hospitals are all crowded with patients.” A survey by medical website Dxy.cn in 2015 found that of more than 3,000 doctors questioned, 55 per cent said flying knife surgery was common among their colleagues. About 30 per cent said they had taken part in at least one such operation. A surgeon from a top-tier hospital in Shanghai said his colleagues often went outside the city to perform surgery without their employer’s consent. “They will only do the surgeries that they are confident will succeed to avoid accidents,” the doctor said. “But if disputes are caused by the surgery, [it is] local doctors and hospitals [who] will try to solve it.” The Hongdong county episode was a “farmer and snake” story, Huang Dayong, a haematologist from Beijing Friendship Hospital, told Dxy.cn, referring to the Aesop fable where a good deed was punished. “[The patient] is now making trouble and maybe he’ll get some benefits. But many other patients’ interests will be hurt because in future top doctors will not dare to visit small towns to do surgery, and patients there will lose their chance of a cure.” While doctors can provide services at hospitals other than their own, Su Shu, chief executive of Ming Yi Zhu Dao, a national surgery booking app, was quoted by Dxy.cn as saying, this involved approvals from both hospitals and the process was not as financially rewarding as a flying knife visit. Chinese doctor dragged away in handcuffs after fight with patient’s husband Hospitals where the treatment is carried out can charge more for visitor’s expertise, but that should be set by the local pricing authority, according to the rules. “They get a very limited amount of consultation and surgery fees,” Su was quoted as saying. “Besides, it’s a cumbersome process to gain these hospitals’ permission. The payment does not reflect medical experts’ value, therefore the legal way is not that attractive.”

Why a US$1,400 ‘flying knife’ operation could cost a Chinese brain surgeon his job

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Rural neurosurgeon invites specialist from Beijing to carry out complex procedure Off-the-books practice exposed when patient posts footage of cash payment

Rural neurosurgeon invites specialist from Beijing to carry out complex procedure

Off-the-books practice exposed when patient posts footage of cash payment