Witnesses Express Outrage as Chinese Doctor Physically Assaults Patient Mid-Surgery

Chinese authorities are investigating a hospital after a surgeon was recorded allegedly punching a patient during a surgery. The incident was caught on video and quickly went viral on Chinese social media, causing outrage among viewers. The hospital's parent group, Aier China, has taken action by suspending the surgeon and dismissing the CEO of the hospital where the incident occurred in 2019. The BBC has reached out to Aier China for a comment regarding the incident. In the video, the surgeon can be seen punching the patient in the head multiple times while performing eye surgery. Aier China, which operates a chain of eye hospitals, confirmed that the incident took place in its hospital in Guigang, a city in southwestern China. According to their statement, the patient, an 82-year-old woman, moved her head and eyeballs multiple times during the surgery due to local anesthesia, which caused the surgeon to react roughly in an emergency situation. Local authorities report that the patient sustained bruises on her forehead. After the surgery, the hospital's management apologized and provided a compensation of 500 yuan ($70, £55) to the patient's son, who spoke to the media about the incident. He also mentioned that his mother is now blind in her left eye, although it is unclear whether this blindness is a result of the incident. Aier China stated that the hospital failed to report the incident to its headquarters. As a result, the CEO of the Guiyang hospital was dismissed, and the surgeon, who also held the position of hospital dean, was suspended for serious violations of the group's regulations, which included other unspecified offenses. Despite the incident occurring in December 2019, it only gained public attention recently after prominent Chinese doctor Dr. Ai Fen shared CCTV footage of the surgery on her Weibo account, where she has over two million followers. Dr. Ai, who was part of a group of doctors who initially raised the alarm about the Covid-19 outbreak in Wuhan, has been involved in legal disputes with Aier China since 2021 when she underwent an operation at one of their hospitals. She alleged that she nearly lost her sight in one eye due to that operation, but Aier China denied the accusation.