The incident of Xiaofei, the deputy director of the thoracic surgery department at Beijing Friendship Hospital, being dismissed continues to brew. Xiaofei was reported to have had multiple extramarital affairs and left surgery unauthorized for 40 minutes due to emotional reasons. This event has raised public concerns about medical safety. Media in China published an article titled “Surgical Doctor Xiaofei Incident Makes People Ponder and Fear,” raising multiple doubts about the Friendship Hospital.
On April 27th, the Friendship Hospital reported that the allegations were substantially true and terminated Xiaofei’s employment. Starting on April 18, a 9-page report letter from Xiaofei’s wife, Ms. Gu, circulated on the internet. In this report letter addressed to the hospital’s disciplinary committee, Ms. Gu mentioned that Xiaofei had multiple extramarital affairs in the past five years, involving four women, some of whom experienced pregnancies and abortions. This included an extramarital affair with a nurse from the thoracic surgery at the Friendship Hospital and a resident doctor from the Tumor Hospital of the China Academy of Medical Sciences.
The report also revealed that on July 5th last year, Xiaofei and the doctor with whom he had an affair were in the operating room together. When the doctor made some incorrect moves, a nurse reprimanded them, leading Xiaofei to shout at the nurse, abandon the anesthetized patient, and leave the operating room with the doctor for 40 minutes, almost causing serious consequences.
The news of Xiaofei leaving a sedated patient unattended on the operating table for 40 minutes shocked many netizens, with the public questioning medical safety issues.
A netizen from Guangxi, Sister L Shunyin, commented: “When on the operating table, patients entrust their lives to the doctor. Even if the doctor has personal grudges, they cannot leave a living person on the operating table. This is a matter of professional ethics. When a doctor lacks medical ethics, it is a terrible thing. The hospital’s slogan of ‘patients’ safety first’ now seems like dark humor in light of this doctor’s actions.”
An article in the Economic Observer on April 29th stated that a lead surgeon leaving the operating table for 40 minutes under anesthesia undoubtedly caused worry and fear among the public. The Friendship Hospital mentioned in its announcement that Xiaofei had issues regarding medical ethics and conduct, but did not disclose the basis for its determination and investigation results.
The article expressed that the matter may not have completely unraveled yet. However, based on the report content, it was revealed that the hospital initiated the investigation only in April this year after receiving the report materials. This handling process leaves room for doubt.
The article questioned the delay in investigating an incident as serious as leaving a patient on the operating table, which occurred in July 2024, and considering the widespread dissemination of the incident. If the hospital management had prior knowledge, why did they wait ten months until the public outcry to start the investigation? Was there a lapse in judgment on why the investigation was not promptly conducted initially? In contrast, Xiaofei’s wife’s report circulated on the internet from April 18, and the hospital issued a notice dismissing Xiaofei a week later. Does this approach, seemingly attempting to quickly cool the public opinion, comply with procedural justice? A nationally prestigious medical institution that prioritizes medical quality and patient safety should not passively wait for public pressure to act decisively.
The article further raised concerns about internal communication and error-correction mechanisms in hospitals, questioning whether similar incidents have been covered up under flawed information dissemination systems.