Good news is not always good news?- especially for Mr Zhu from Beibei District, Chongqing.
Zhu was from a low-income family and was over 50 years old. For years he had suffered from high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, and stomach hemorrhages.
He died after hearing that his medical expenses could be partly reimbursed.
In November 2007, Zhu was hospitalized for upper respiratory tract infection, gastritis and stomach haemorrhage. He did not feel better after two days. Officials from his community went to hospital to visit him. They not only awarded him an allowance, but also promised that his medical expenses would be partly reimbursed by the community. Zhu was moved to tears.
Less than 10 minutes after the officials left him, Zhu's illness suddenly got worse. He experienced severe dizziness and exhaustion with chest pains, and then died after emergency treatment. The following autopsy showed that aorta rupture and hemorrhage were the main causes of death.
Zhu's family took the hospital to court as they thought that the hospital had not treated Zhu correctly.
The court recognized firstly that Zhu's death was a result of his own disease, and secondly that external factors had overexcited him and caused the aorta rupture.
The hospital had failed to tell Zhu to control his emotions even though they knew he suffered from high blood pressure and coronary heart disease. They had not prescribed anti-hypertension pills to Zhu. Thus the court ordered the hospital to pay Zhu's family about 90,000 yuan (about US$13,158.)
(China.org.cn by Li Xiaohua, May 6, 2009)
