Elderly Woman Left Blind After Chinese Surgeon Punches Her During Eye Surgery
A shocking video of a Chinese surgeon assaulting an elderly woman on the operating table has gone viral on social media, triggering public outrage and an official investigation.
The video, which was shared by a famous whistleblower doctor, shows the surgeon hitting the woman in the head repeatedly while performing eye surgery on her.
The incident happened in 2019 at a hospital in Guigang, a city in southwestern China. The hospital is part of Aier China, a large chain of eye hospitals.
According to Aier China, the woman was 82 years old and had difficulty tolerating the local anaesthesia. She moved her head and eyes several times during the surgery, despite the surgeon’s warnings in Mandarin. The surgeon, who was also the hospital dean, claimed he acted “roughly” in an emergency situation to protect the woman’s eyes.
However, the woman suffered bruises on her forehead and lost her vision in her left eye. The hospital apologised and paid her 500 yuan ($70, £55) as compensation, but did not report the incident to the headquarters or the authorities.
The surgeon and the hospital CEO have been suspended and dismissed by Aier China, which said they violated the group’s regulations and committed other unspecified offences.
The video was posted on Weibo, a popular microblogging platform, by Dr Ai Fen, who was one of the first doctors to warn the public about the Covid-19 outbreak in Wuhan. Dr Ai has more than two million followers on Weibo and has been involved in a legal dispute with Aier China since 2021, when she alleged that she nearly lost her sight in one eye after undergoing surgery at one of their hospitals. Aier China has denied her accusation.
