A SHENZHEN mother smashed things and slapped a doctor in the face at Shenzhen Children’s Hospital after she was dissatisfied with the preoperation examination for her son’s circumcision at the hospital, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported yesterday.

    The director of the hospital’s urology department, surnamed Li, said that the woman, identified as Jiang, and her husband had required the doctors to arrange a circumcision for their son immediately Saturday afternoon. “But we have to do a preoperation check for the patient to learn about his physical condition,” Li said.

    He said that the couple was outraged because they believed circumcision was a small surgery and that the examination was unnecessary. Li said that the examination includes a chest X-ray, ECG and a test of liver function and that the surgery would be arranged one or two days after the examination result came out.

    However, the couple said that the examination was excessive and the hospital was merely trying to charge more money, according to Li.

    “Any operation comes with risks. Even though it’s a small surgery, we have to be fully aware of the child’s physical condition before we can decide whether to do the surgery or not,” Li said, adding that the examination was mandatory according to relevant regulations.

    Li said that the couple was so furious that they roared at the medical staff, smashed things in the doctors’ lounge, and cursed at and slapped their son’s attending doctor, surnamed Sun. Li said that the hospital didn’t have any other choice but to call police.

    In a video filmed by a medical worker, Jiang said she had been trying to make an appointment for her son’s circumcision at the hospital since 2014 and she finally got an appointment this year. However, Li said that the hospital’s online system showed that she hadn’t made an appointment until January last year.

    Li said that there were over 2,000 children waiting for circumcisions at that hospital currently, and many parents had demanded scheduling the surgeries for the winter or summer break. “Their son will be able to undergo the surgery pretty soon based on the appointment he made,” Li said.

    According to Futian police, Jiang is being held under administrative detention for seven days for disturbing public order.

    China’s first set of regional regulations on medical service — Medical Regulations of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone — took effect in Shenzhen on Jan. 1 this year. According to the new rules, medical institutions are public places where no one can inflict violence or threats on the institution or its staff members, and those who violate the rules should be handled by police.

    According to the report, this case might be the first “hospital outrage” case handled by police since the regulations took effect. (Zhang Yang)