Mercenary healthcare risks doctors' lives

by Sun Xi
Over the past month, at least six attacks on doctors have been reported within 10 days, leaving one dead and several others badly injured.
On October 27, staff at the No. 1 People's Hospital of Wenling City, Zhejiang Province, took to the street to protest the killing of Dr Wang Yunjie, a colleague. They guarded Wang's body and refused to disperse in a stand-off with police. Some doctors staged a sit-in, raising placards denouncing violence against medical workers.
It all started two days earlier, when a disgruntled patient who believed his surgery had been botched stabbed three doctors at the Wenling hospital.
The dramatic sight of doctors guarding the body of their slain colleague reminded people of the stunts often performed by families of patients who died after treatment. To wring higher compensation from hospitals, relatives occasionally exhibit the bodies of patients they claim died as a result of medical malpractice.
The spate of deadly attacks has caused heightened concerns by authorities. But concerns alone are not enough, for similar attacks keep taking place, a sign of patient-doctor strife.
Although the authorities and media have been calling for less antagonism and more trust, it is obvious that the distrust between doctors and patients runs deep and increasingly is boiling over into murderous anger.
The discord is rooted in the healthcare system itself. 
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