Recently, a scandal surrounding “heart valve” has been exposed at the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University. Family members of a patient revealed that five years ago, during surgery performed on their father, the doctor illegally used a self-funded heart valve priced over 35,000 yuan, while the hospital charged 280,000 yuan. Furthermore, the doctor failed to inform the family when the valve placement failed and did not remove it. Instead, a second valve was implanted without proper documentation in the medical records. The total cost of the surgery amounted to over 610,000 yuan, and the father passed away 46 days after the operation.
Recent reports by mainland media outlets such as “Chaoshan News” and “Jiupai News” highlighted that in November 2020, Ms. Li’s father underwent a body check at the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University. The doctor discovered a moderate aortic valve stenosis through a Doppler ultrasound and recommended minimally invasive interventional treatment surgery.
Ms. Li stated, “While the hospital’s preoperative disclosure clearly stated that the surgery was prepared as a thoracotomy surgery via the femoral artery, the medical records recorded the implementation of a transapical TAVR surgery. The doctor proceeded to use a self-funded valve costing 280,000 yuan, bringing the total cost to over 610,000 yuan.”
The discharge settlement document and transplant registration card provided by Ms. Li showed that her father’s intervention used an artificial biological heart valve consisting of a transapical intervention device (model TAV21-27) and a self-expanding intervention valve (model CVM-AV25), with individual prices of 20,000 yuan and 26,000 yuan, totaling 280,000 yuan.
Ms. Li disclosed, “The hospital explained that these are two components of a heart valve set. Only upon reviewing the images and medical records did we realize that two heart valves were actually implanted. The first one, which was unsuccessfully implanted, was not informed to us nor removed, and later a second valve was implanted. However, the medical records only reflected a single valve label, keeping us in the dark throughout the process.” Ms. Li further explained that the hospital used the excuse of “no need to label if not charged” to deprive patients and their families of their right to be informed and choose.
As a result, the source of the second implanted heart valve was undeterminable, leading to discrepancies in the medical appraisal.
Ms. Li mentioned that the hospital did not inform them beforehand about the 280,000 yuan heart valve, and it was fully self-funded. An invoice provided to “Chaoshan News” indicated that the heart valve manufacturer used by the hospital was “Suzhou Jiecheng Medical Technology Co., Ltd.,” with the supplier being “a certain trading company in Shaanxi.”
In November 2020, the “certain trading company in Shaanxi” purchased seven sets of valve instruments from the seller “Suzhou Jiecheng Medical Technology Co., Ltd.,” totaling over 260,000 yuan, including the valve products used in the surgery for Ms. Li’s father. Among them, the transapical intervention device, model TAV21-27, was priced at 2528 yuan per unit, and the self-expanding intervention valve CVM-AV25 was priced at 35,398 yuan per unit.
“The heart valve that was used in my father cost over 30,000 yuan when purchased, but the hospital never mentioned this to us and directly sold it to us for 280,000 yuan!” Ms. Li expressed, “If they had informed us of this price beforehand, we definitely wouldn’t have chosen it.”
After the surgery, Ms. Li’s father was admitted to the ICU in a state of coma, with the family initially informed of stable conditions. Due to doubts regarding the treatment effectiveness, Ms. Li decided to transfer to another hospital, incurring a total cost of over 610,000 yuan, where less than 300,000 yuan was reimbursed by medical insurance, and she paid over 320,000 yuan personally.
Subsequently, after the transfer, another hospital claimed that the surgical incision was too large and the optimal treatment window was missed. Forty-six days post-operation, Ms. Li’s father passed away. Following the incident, she began researching related information and consulting other hospitals, confirming that surgery for moderate aortic valve stenosis was not necessary.
In addition, due to her suspicions regarding the over 300,000 yuan spent on medical equipment, Ms. Li meticulously reviewed the medical insurance payment details and found multiple unreasonable charges, such as 34 rectal cleanings, gauze costing 6000 yuan, and suture thread costing 5700 yuan.
Recently, Ms. Li disclosed to “Jiupai News” that last year, she reported 43 suspected irregularities in the cardiovascular surgery department of Xi’an Jiaotong University First Affiliated Hospital to the Xi’an Medical Security Administration Bureau. On August 4 this year, the bureau confirmed a total of 26 violations, involving the improper use of medical insurance funds totaling 75,060.4 yuan.
In order to clarify the responsibility for medical damages, in 2022, Ms. Li filed lawsuits against several hospitals involved in her father’s treatment process.
Although the court commissioned three appraisal institutions, all declined to provide appraisals. Ms. Li shared that a forensic doctor from one institution informed her that the human heart is a critical area, and heart valves of unknown origin might have a causal relationship with death, making it impossible to determine the medical liability solely through appraisal.
In the initial verdict issued by the Yanta District Court of Xi’an, a fault in Xi’an Jiaotong University First Affiliated Hospital was presumed, holding 70% of the compensation responsibility. However, Ms. Li believed that the hospital should bear full responsibility for her father’s death and appealed the decision. After a hearing, the second-instance court remanded the case for a retrial, which is still ongoing at the Yanta District Court.
This five-year-long case has finally garnered attention on the internet.
Netizens expressed their concerns, “Changing the surgery method from femoral artery to transapical without clear explanation beforehand. While doctors have the right to make professional judgments, the final decisions should be understood and agreed upon by the patients and their families, which is a bottom line.” “Medical records are legal documents, and any implanted instrument must be documented. Omitting one valve is not only a work mistake but also an irresponsible act towards the patient’s health and life.”
“A 280,000 yuan self-funded valve was used without proper consultation, completely disregarding the principle of informed consent. The family was entirely passive, making it not about curing and saving lives but more about coercion and exploitation.” “This incident raises significant doubts about the pricing mechanism of medical consumables. What is a reasonable profit margin? We need a more transparent mechanism to supervise and prevent patients from being exploited.” “The cost of breaking the law is too low. Even if fined a few thousand, they can easily recover it by overcharging the next patient. No one will go to jail or lose all their personal assets! So, this is the core problem! This audacity is enabled because the consequences are too light.”
“Even with well-established systems and regulations, will there be too much effort to protect the victims? Hospitals, schools, food, and other life-related issues raise a series of questions. Where is the root cause? Without addressing it fundamentally, any improvement is unlikely.”