Two Doctors: One Takes Bribes, the Other Declines

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My friend's son had a tumour on his spine. He was going to have chemotherapy after the tumour was removed. In order to ensure good care, my friend bribed the hospital before the surgery. Everything went smoothly, from the operation room to the inpatient ward. However, the nurse was unfriendly to them, but was quite amiable to other patients. My friend realized why and went to visit the nurse at night with a generous gift. The nurse's attitude changed greatly. Even more surprisingly, the nurse said that his child's tumour was not malignant; there was no need to have chemotherapy treatment, and as a matter of fact, he would be better off without chemotherapy.

What would you do if you encountered a situation like this? In China, without giving bribes to the staff, the cost for staying in the hospital may be higher, and the unnecessary medical treatment would make the child miserable. With the bribe system, the child could be discharged without suffering further hardship. Nowadays, most people in China know it is the hospital's unwritten rule that the seriousness of a patient's disease mainly depends upon the amount of bribes offered. One well-known medical professor said, “My family always asks if they should give bribes in red envelopes* to their doctors.”

This unwritten rule also exists in every other professional field in China. It is no wonder that people always directly point out that you will not get things done without giving bribes.

The patients have already paid for the operation fee. Why do they need to bribe the doctors? This is the so-called “Chinese special characteristic.” Under the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), this phenomenon occurs not only in the medical field, but in all other sectors. It just works like this. As long as a person is in charge, that person will be entitled to take advantage of his or her position. It is clearly a manifestation of moral corruption. Under the influence of this mentality, a life-saving angel becomes greedy for patients' money. Many unethical incidents have happened in the medical field. One case involved a midwife who sealed a woman's anus because she refused to give bribes. In another case, a patient's stitches were removed too early because this patient didn't give bribes in time.

Some hospitals have established provisions and measures to restrict this practice of bribing. However, since medical ethics in China are so seriously corrupted, no restrictions will prevent doctors from asking for bribes.

There was a joke circulating. A person was told that for a patient to avoid being mistreated, a bribe in a red envelope should be given to the main surgeon before an operation. He thus prepared a red envelope when he registered his family member for the operation. He furtively tried to give the doctor the red envelope when nobody was around, but the doctor shook his head and said that he could not accept it. The man was moved with profuse gratitude. Surprisingly, when he walked out of the room with the doctor a few minutes later, the doctor whispered to him: “There is a camera monitor inside the room. I couldn't take your red envelope there because...” The man then gave the red envelope back to the doctor with an embarrassed smile and complex feelings.

Why does this attitude so pervasively exist? It is because doctors in China are not restricted by the "law of the heart." What is the law of heart? It is a basic law of nature, which guides people to be kind to others, understand the principles that good is rewarded with good and evil is met with retribution, maintain respect for life, and consider others first. Conversely, a person will be punished by Heaven if he has an evil mind and does bad things. Simply speaking, this is what the ancient Chinese call the “Law of Heaven.”

Of course, doctors would do things differently if they were guided by the “law of the heart.” One article titled “Bribe-declining Doctor” from Minghui.org (Published May 26, 2011) said: “A friend's father was diagnosed with rectal cancer and surgery was needed. The patient's family gave the main surgeon 1,000 yuan in a red envelope. The doctor declined the offer in the beginning, but finally kept it after firm insistence of the patient's family. The surgery was successful. When the patient was released, this doctor gave them a deposit receipt for 1,000 yuan. He told the family: “I used your money as a deposit for your hospital stay. I am a Falun Gong practitioner. I cannot accept your red envelope.” The family was very moved. Nowadays in China, where can you find any person who does not accept pecuniary gifts?

It is very common for Falun Gong practitioners to not accept red envelopes. Dr. Wang Jiansheng is the Health Centre Director of the Communication Bureau at Huanggang City. He started practising Falun Gong at the end of 1995. He strictly follows Falun Gong's principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Everyone knows that it is very common that pharmaceutical companies give bribes in order to sell their products. However, his colleagues told all the agents of these pharmaceutical companies: “You don't have to give red envelopes. Dr. Wang will not accept them because he is a Falun Gong practitioner.” Dr. Wang has turned in more than 48,000 yuan of medicine rebates every year since more than a decade ago. If he did not do so, the rebates would become his own money. He could amass even more than this amount by just adding some non-essential medicines to his prescriptions. Why didn't he do that? It is obvious that Falun Dafa has become a “law of the heart” for him, which prevents him from indiscriminately prescribing medicines to patients.

From the above two examples, it is clear that a good doctor is different from a bad doctor. Good doctors always have a conscience to restrain their behaviour. Falun Gong guides people to become good persons and not do bad things. Unfortunately, this righteous Dafa has been persecuted by the CCP for thirteen years. How can people understand it? The CCP, clearly vicious, persecutes good people. Under the rule of this vicious party, it is no surprise that Chinese society has become so seriously corrupt today.

*Note: In Chinese and other Asian societies, a red envelope is used to enclose a monetary gift, which is given during holidays or special occasions such as birthdays or situations needing favour.

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