Anne Zhang
zhangy49@gmail.com
A WOMAN lost her left kidney after having a minor surgery to break up her kidney stones at Shenzhen Guangsheng Hospital in Bao’an District on Friday.
The 32-year-old woman, Wei Jianmin, said she unwittingly signed a consent form that included the kidney-removal operation. Her family suspected that the hospital removed the kidney to sell it.
Officials with Shenzhen’s health inspection bureau investigated the case yesterday and said that the initial evidence shows the operation was done under the consent of Wei and her family.
Currently, health officials are unable to prove that the hospital is involved in illegal selling of organs.
Wei felt pain in the left side of her lower back Sunday morning and went to Shenzhen Guangsheng Hospital. She was initially diagnosed with ureteral calculus and doctors said she needed a small surgery to break up the kidney stones.
After paying 800 yuan (US$129.76) for the surgery, Wei entered the operating room at 2 p.m. Sunday. She woke up from anesthesia at 7 p.m. and found that she was still in the operating room, where she remained until 9:30 p.m.
Doctors told her that the operation had gone amiss; they had to remove her left kidney to save her life.
Wei requested to be transferred to another hospital, but the doctors said that would be dangerous because she had lost too much blood during the surgery and was in critical condition. Wei told the Southern Metropolis Daily that she was made to sign a consent form for the removal of her kidney.
Wei’s sister said she felt something was wrong when the hospital mentioned offering compensation. She said she is worried that the hospital may sell Wei’s kidney.
The hospital said yesterday that it consulted experts from Bao’an District People’s Hospital and Sun Yat-sen University after the surgery went amiss and all the experts agreed that removing Wei’s kidney was the best way to save her.
Health authorities said the 18 medical workers involved in the case are qualified for medical practice and the hospital is keeping the removed kidney in a refrigerator.
A urological expert with Shenzhen No. 2 People’s Hospital said it’s possible that ureteral calculus could necessitate the removal of a person’s kidney. The doctors removed Wei’s kidney probably because her organ was severely injured or she had a hemorrhage during the surgery, he said.
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