Last year, on May 15, intern doctor Luo Shuaiyu from Xiangya Second Hospital of Central South University died under unclear circumstances. The Hunan authorities released a notice on June 13 this year, determining Luo Shuaiyu’s death as a suicide, sparking skepticism and outcry online. Luo Shuaiyu’s father responded to the notice point by point in a post on June 14, refuting the claims made in the official statement. Currently, Luo Shuaiyu’s family’s live streams on social media platforms like Douyin have been banned, and there are calls from the media to reopen the investigation, with related reports being taken down.
Luo Shuaiyu’s family posted on Weibo, stating, “The joint investigation team’s ‘investigating oneself’ lacks credibility, seriously contradicting objective facts and basic logic.”
The joint investigation team, composed of the Hunan Health Commission, Changsha Public Security Bureau, and Central South University, was criticized in the article released by Luo’s family, stating, “Xiangya Second Hospital of Central South University has direct interests in this case (Luo was affiliated with the hospital during his lifetime). Allowing the implicated hospital to participate in the ‘self-investigation and self-correction’ of its own case goes against basic principles of justice.”
Furthermore, the official report was accused of “intentionally concealing the true situation of the voluntary payment of 853,000 RMB by Xiangya Second Hospital of Central South University.” “If it was indeed a suicide, Central South University Xiangya Second Hospital would have no legal responsibility, so why did the hospital voluntarily pay such a huge sum of 853,000 RMB? Does this make sense logically?”
The article “harshly rebuts” the suicide conclusion of the investigation team, stating that “the head hit the ground and rebounded 3 meters” seriously contradicts common sense.
The family also questioned why hospital staff and police repeatedly advised the family not to request an autopsy and to cremate the body quickly while the family was grieving after the incident.
The family raised doubts about the verification results of the COTRS system (China’s Computer System for Organ Allocation and Sharing) and demanded the complete evidence of 50 organ donation cases (including the donor’s death certificate and original signatures of relatives). However, the investigation team only brushed off the query with a “system query,” failing to provide the original evidence chain, and conducting self-inquiry and self-justification, which lacks credibility.
If “Luo Shuaiyu’s laptop data was not deleted,” could the family recover so much material data?
In their response, the family also mentioned, “Did you once try to forcibly take away the family, only to be stopped by the local police in Sichuan?”
The article concluded, “For over a year, hiding and seeking, deeply feeling the immense difficulties on the road to safeguarding rights,” urging for “a higher-level independent joint investigation team” to reinvestigate Luo Shuaiyu’s death case, rather than having the involved parties conduct a ‘self-inquiry and self-correction’ process.
The same day, Luo Shuaiyu’s father and relatives’ Douyin accounts were banned from live streaming, while their live stream on Kuaishou was abruptly cut off.
The official notice did not dispel the public’s doubts. One netizen commented, “There was no one-on-one, point-to-point interpretation of the key core issues, focusing on portraying Luo as a bad student? Not willing to continue studying. It’s all about trivial matters.”
Internet celebrity Song Zude also released two videos questioning the official announcement, both of which were subsequently taken down.
In his video, Song Zude questioned, “Can people believe a conclusion where they investigate themselves? Just like the body burial case in the playground in Hunan, back then and now, there have been many investigation reports, his daughter persevered, after 19 years of effort, the case was finally solved. At that time, it was also investigating themselves, the school had no responsibility. In the end, 19 public prosecution and police officers were arrested.” He advised Luo’s family not to give up but to continue appealing.
Netizen “General Arrow” wrote on Weibo, “For over a year, Dr. Luo’s parents both demand huge compensation and appeal, live stream online, publicly defame top-tier hospitals, disrupt normal social order; why haven’t we seen the hospital’s lawyer file a lawsuit?”
The Qianjiang Evening News published an article calling for a “cross-regional review” to dispel the public’s doubts, but the report was taken down shortly after.
The Douyin account of Suzhou Art Broadcasting, on June 16, released a video titled “Thorough Investigation of Luo Shuaiyu’s Death Case, Not Letting locals investigate themselves only.”
People’s Daily Public Opinion Data Center published an article on the night of June 14, believing that “resolving disputes still requires more clarification on the key issues.”
Xia Tielei, a reporter from Yunnan’s “Chengcheng Evening News” who first reported on Luo Shuaiyu’s case, posted a video on social media, titled “The fallen Luo turtle crushes with a rebound, the earth squash on the ground reveals the evil spirit of the monster,” subtly criticizing that the official announcement is hard to believe.
Luo Shuaiyu, born in Neijiang, Sichuan in 1996, enrolled in the master’s program at Xiangya Medical College of Central South University in 2021 and was assigned to intern in the kidney transplant department of Xiangya Second Hospital. He had previously rotated in the Hepatobiliary Surgery Department and worked with the attending doctor Liu Xiangfeng.
Liu Xiangfeng, known as the “Demon Doctor,” was accused of amassing wealth by illegally removing healthy organs of patients. Luo Shuaiyu collected data and reported issues with Liu Xiangfeng to the authorities. In August 2022, Liu Xiangfeng was investigated and sentenced to 17 years in prison.
During Liu Xiangfeng’s investigation, on May 8 last year, Luo Shuaiyu “accidentally” fell from the 15th floor of the dormitory complex. The police classified it as “suicide by jumping off the building.” However, the family did not accept this result due to many discrepancies at the scene—signs of a fight, shattered glasses of Luo Shuaiyu, cash left at the scene, and the distance of 7 meters between the falling spot and the building, with only an 80cm isolation hole, requiring climbing over a 1-meter-high barrier to enter from the rooftop.
At the family’s insistence, the hospital increased the compensation offer from 200,000 to 850,000 RMB. They also asked the family to sign a confidentiality agreement and could only return the belongings after “determining suicide.” After retrieving the phone and computer, the family recovered 1119 pages of whistleblowing materials, including recordings, videos, illegal organ trade documents, among which there were 158 recordings. Additionally, the family found that from September 2021 to September 2023, Xiangya Second Hospital transferred over 400,000 RMB to the family under the name of “service remuneration,” which was later transferred via WeChat payment to an individual labeled as “Head Nurse.”