A man in Baotou City, Inner Mongolia, suffered a cerebral hemorrhage, and doctors mistakenly operated on his left brain before realizing the error and proceeding with the surgery on the right brain. As a result, the man has lost feeling in his left hand and cannot walk properly with his right leg. His family’s claim for compensation of 3 million yuan has been rejected. Recently, the man’s wife, Ms. Pan, lodged a complaint with the Baotou Municipal Health Commission, seeking compensation and accountability for the chief physician and related staff. The chief physician is currently unaccounted for.
According to the report by Red Star News, on January 16th, multiple departments of the Baotou Central Hospital, including the Medical Affairs Department and Administrative Office, were contacted but did not respond. Calls to the phone number provided by Ms. Pan for the person in charge of hospital security went unanswered, and even text messages sent at the time of writing received no reply.
As narrated by Ms. Pan, their family resides in the urban area of Baotou City. Her husband, Mr. Wang, drove a truck for transportation and was the main breadwinner of the family until an accident in 2023 threw their entire household into turmoil.
On the morning of January 31, 2023, around 8 am, Mr. Wang was preparing to leave in his truck when he slipped in the bathroom while taking out the trash. Ms. Pan and their daughter, who had just graduated from university, rushed to the bathroom to check on him and then called emergency services.
After being taken to the hospital for examination, doctors diagnosed Mr. Wang with a cerebral hemorrhage in the right brain and deemed immediate surgery necessary, to which Ms. Pan consented. The surgeries included a right lateral craniotomy for hematoma evacuation and bone flap decompression, as well as a left subdural hematoma evacuation.
“On that day, at around 11 am, he was taken to the operating room, and by around 5 pm, the doctor told me they had cleaned the hematoma in the right brain very thoroughly. But when closing up, they noticed a bulge on the left side that needed to be probed. I signed off on it again, and it wasn’t until after 10 pm that he was moved to the ICU,” Ms. Pan recalled. Seven days later, a CT scan revealed bleeding in the left brain.
Although the hospital explained the reason for the bleeding in the left brain to Ms. Pan and her family, they still had doubts. Seeking a second opinion, they consulted experts from other hospitals who informed them that there had been a mistake in opening both sides of the skull. This revelation shocked the family, prompting Ms. Pan to confront the chief physician, department, hospital authorities, and medical disciplinary committee. Eventually, the doctor and hospital admitted that they had initially operated on the left brain.
Ms. Pan provided a stamped “Statement Defense” from the Baotou Central Hospital, indicating errors during the surgery where the left brain was opened first before proceeding with the right lateral craniotomy for hematoma evacuation. The document mentioned the appearance of a left subdural hematoma post-surgery, with a suggested follow-up surgery which was declined by the family, opting for conservative treatment instead. It bore the signature of the chief physician, Mr. Zeng.
Furthermore, Ms. Pan submitted a printed document detailing the “Surgical Process,” signed by the chief physician, Mr. Zeng, dated February 17, 2023.
On the afternoon of January 16, calls to the Neurosurgery Department of the Baotou Central Hospital revealed that Mr. Zeng was no longer working in that department, and his whereabouts were unknown.
Ms. Pan explained that post-surgery, Mr. Wang’s left side was essentially paralyzed, his left ear discharged pus, and his appearance was deformed due to the operation. He is currently still hospitalized. Mr. Wang now has difficulty speaking clearly, and even when spoken to at length, he struggles to comprehend. He has no sensation in his left hand and lacks strength in his right leg, needing support to walk a distance of just over ten meters.
After spending over eighty days in the ICU, the hospital arranged for a caregiver, but the contract was drawn up for Ms. Pan to sign. The caregiver worked for over two months, until Mr. Wang’s ear healed. Subsequently, as part of his recovery, the family requested two caregivers to be hired.
“I felt the initial caregiver didn’t provide adequate care, and the hospital then asked me to find another. They covered the costs, with each caregiver receiving 600 yuan per day, paid monthly by bank transfer,” Ms. Pan stated. In September 2024, she found a caregiver and also took on the role herself, caring for Mr. Wang in the hospital.
“I approached the hospital to resolve this matter and, based on legal advice, demanded compensation of 3 million yuan. However, the hospital refused,” Ms. Pan lamented.
On January 16, staff from the Medical Administration Department of the Baotou Municipal Health Commission stated that several departments were investigating the issue.