Ms. Wang has been plagued
by a poor appetite and frightening nightmares ever since she had an X-ray taken
of her chest in Beijing Yizhuang Hospital in early October.
Wang poses with the
X-ray she had taken at Beijing Yizhuang Hospital October 7, 2006. [China
Times] |
On October 7, 2006, while
having an X-ray in Yizhuang Hospital in southeast Beijing, Ms Wang, a
native of northwest China's Gansu Province, was asked by the doctor to strip
from the waist up and was later asked to strike various poses, greatly
embarrassing and enraging the woman, the Beijing-based China Times
reported.
"He knew from my accent
that I am not from Beijing, and asked me where I come from first," Wang was
quoted as saying. "Then he asked me to strip from the waist up, including the
bra, lest the clothing affect the results. Since both my sister-in-law who
accompanied me to the hospital, and I had never an X-ray taken before, I did
what he told me to do. "
"Then, commenting that my
hairstyle looked nice, he asked me to tie up my hair, and even stepped forward
to adjust it. The whole process lasted more than ten minutes." Wang was quoted
as saying.
"I could stand no more,
and started to cry. I fled before it ended," Wang said.
When Wang's husband Zhang found out what had taken place, he was infuriated.
After soothing his wife, Zhang called several large
hospitals to clarify what had happened.
"They said it is not
necessary to strip from the waist up in order to take an X-ray. As long as there
are no metal pieces on the clothes, the x-ray film can be taken normally," Zhang
told the paper, saying the Yizhuang Hospital was taking advantage of patients.
According to Zhang, Wang
has been in bad mood since her visit to the hospital, showing a poor appetite
and having nightmares.
"We hope the hospital will
give us a satisfactory reply," Zhang was quoted by the paper as saying.
The hospital authorities,
however, justified the doctor's requirements, blaming Wang's strong emotional
reaction on a lack of communication with the doctor.
"When taking an X-ray,
sometimes the doctor asks a patient to take off his or her clothes, and
sometimes not. Both are normal. In Wang's case, insufficient communication is to
blame," vice president of Yizhuang Hospital Han told the paper, promising to do
more to strengthen mutual communication.
A senior doctor with the
Radiation Section of the Beijing Friendship Hospital told the paper that whether
or not a patient is required to strip depends on which part of the body is
X-rayed. In the case of a chest X-ray, stripping is not required, provided there
are no metal objects or buttons to interfere with the process.
Ma, a lawyer with a
Beijing-based law firm, believes what Wang experienced in the hospital
constitutes a civil dispute, and the hospital should apologize to the
victim.
