A doctor was allegedly killed by a patient at a hospital in northeastern China as he was unhappy with the treatment he received, authorities said today.
The incident occurred yesterday in Heilongjiang province when Sun Dongtao, head of the ear, nose and throat department of a hospital was repeatedly hit on the head with an iron bar while performing his outpatient care duties, China’s state-run Xinhua news agency quoted police as saying.
Dongtao died after emergency treatment failed.
The suspect, surnamed Qi, a local resident who had a nose illness, was unhappy with treatment he received from Dongtao and thus wanted revenge, according to an initial police probe.
Armed with a 50-cm-long iron tube, Qi broke into the outpatient room and attacked Dongtao. He was later caught by
the police.
Attacks on medical staff have been frequently reported in China. In late October in east China’s Zhejiang Province, a doctor, also in an ear, nose and throat department, was stabbed to death.
In 2012, eleven violent attacks on medical staff occurred in hospitals in eight provinces and municipalities, killing seven people and injuring 28, including doctors, according to a joint statement issued by China’s National Health and Family Planning Commission and the Ministry of Public Security.
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