Baby dies as doctor plays online game
A 5-month old baby died in China's Nanjing Children's Hospital while the doctor was playing a game online, an investigation has found
The baby boy was taken to the hospital last Tuesday with a serious eye infection which led to swelling inside the skull.
The baby was doing fine in the afternoon but his condition worsened and he died about 1.30am the next day.
Computer experts later found the ophthalmologist, Mao Xiaojun, had been playing a game of 'Go' online, health officials said Thursday.
A file picture of the baby who died due to doctor's negligence
Mao will be sacked from the hospital and his medical certificate will be cancelled. All other on-duty staff will be punished.
The incident came to light after someone posted a report on the Internet condemning Mao and the hospital, alleging that he was playing online games.
The hospital had initially said that Mao was busy writing his thesis that night.
Health officials, however, launched their own investigation.
"Mao lied to us a few days ago," Li Shaodong, director of the healthcare reform office of the Jiangsu health department, told China Daily.
"He admitted to playing the game of 'go' online after our computer experts checked out evidence on his computer."
He said Mao did not follow hospital regulations and his sluggish attitude toward patients led to the boy's death.
The Jiangsu health department said on Wednesday that the hospital was responsible for the baby's death as its workers did not recognize the baby's serious condition and failed to give him timely treatment.
The hospital refused to make a statement yesterday and the victim's family was not available for comment.
The incident has focused attention on negligence and malpractice in hospitals.
On Tuesday, officials at Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center at Sun Yat-sen University said that three of 10 patients who underwent procedures to correct myopia, or nearsightedness, on Oct 21 became infected because the center had used the same laser machine for experiments on animals.
Since 2002, more than 10,000 lawsuits over medical disputes have been filed in China each year. Health experts have called for medical staff to improve their skills, and for quicker healthcare reforms.
- China Daily/ANN
Published Nov 13 2009
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