Recently, another medical accident has sparked public concern in mainland China. A woman from Jiangsu Province went to the hospital due to stomach discomfort and was advised to undergo minimally invasive heart surgery. Unfortunately, she died during the surgery, a procedure that could have been treated with medication. The family raised questions about the necessity of the surgery and the medical process.
According to reports from various Chinese media outlets, in April 2025, Ms. Song from Nantong, Jiangsu Province, visited the Nantong First People’s Hospital due to stomach discomfort. The doctors recommended heart surgery before further examinations such as gastric endoscopy could be conducted. Despite initial hesitation from Ms. Song and her family, they eventually agreed to undergo radiofrequency ablation surgery for the heart. However, during the surgery, Ms. Song experienced sudden respiratory and cardiac arrest, leading to her unfortunate death.
The autopsy report indicated that the cause of death was “acute coronary artery injury during radiofrequency ablation procedure leading to cardiac arrest.”
On December 9, 2025, the Jiangsu Medical Association issued a “Technical Identification Report on Medical Accidents,” classifying the incident as a Grade I major medical accident with the medical institution bearing primary responsibility.
The report highlighted several shortcomings in the treatment and surgical process at the Nantong First People’s Hospital. Firstly, the pre-surgery electrocardiogram conducted the day before the operation did not detect ventricular premature beats, yet the medical team proceeded with the surgery without reviewing a dynamic electrocardiogram, indicating inadequate preoperative examination and assessment and a lack of rigorous criteria for surgery indications.
Secondly, when adjusting the surgical plan and deciding to perform ablation in the high-risk area of the left coronary sinus, the medical team failed to fully inform the patient and her family of the specific risks associated with that location and did not obtain written consent, depriving the patient and family of their right to choose.
Thirdly, the expert panel pointed out that the left coronary sinus area is adjacent to the opening of the left main coronary artery, posing a high-risk zone for coronary artery damage. According to clinical protocols for cardiovascular interventions, before ablation in this area, selective coronary angiography is necessary to determine the safe distance between the ablation target and coronary artery opening (usually greater than 5-6 millimeters) to prevent vessel damage from thermal energy during ablation. However, the medical team proceeded with ablation in the left coronary sinus area without performing coronary angiography, which was the fundamental reason for the patient’s death.
The phenomenon of “treating minor ailments as major illnesses” is not uncommon in reality, and the necessity of the surgery has become a focal point of scrutiny by the family.
According to the family, Ms. Song and her relatives had expressed hesitation several times regarding the hospital’s heart surgery recommendation. Her daughter, Ms. Li, stated that her mother did not experience severe symptoms such as dizziness or fainting, and her palpitations had been effectively controlled with medication for an extended period. To err on the side of caution, the family even consulted with authoritative cardiovascular specialists in Beijing, who believed that her symptoms were manageable and did not warrant surgery at the time, recommending medication as the primary treatment.
After the incident was exposed online, it sparked a significant discussion among internet users.
A netizen from Chongqing shared on social media, “Ms. Song sought medical treatment for abdominal pain but died days later from an unnecessary heart surgery. The patient had no history of severe arrhythmia, and the lack of definitive evidence from dynamic electrocardiogram data, failure to conduct necessary coronary artery assessments before surgery, and approval records in the electronic medical records completed by a doctor who was not on duty, all point to a series of violations at the Nantong First People’s Hospital leading to an inevitable tragedy.”
The netizen emphasized that the essence of healthcare is “do no harm” and called on regulatory authorities to enhance dynamic inspections of restricted medical technologies, rigorously investigate issues of falsified medical records, rebuild strict surgical admission and approval processes at hospitals, and emphasize sound clinical judgments by doctors to prevent overtreatment.
An article under the pseudonym “Speaking Truth in the World” also highlighted that patients entrust their lives to doctors out of trust during the medical process. While medicine is not omnipotent, deaths that could have been prevented due to procedural errors and lack of responsibility are clearly unacceptable.