Toward healing and restoration against medical disturbance (YINAO) in China: reconsiderations and prospects of responsibility search and malpractice resolution

• Author: HU Tianlong
• Pages: 561-583

FRONTIERS OF LAW IN CHINA

VOL. 12 DECEMBER 2017 NO. 4

DOI 10.3868/s050-006-017-0030-6

FOCUS

NEW CHALLENGES AND UNDERTAKINGS FOR ADMINISTRATIVE AND

REGUL ATORY REFORM: A GLOBAL WATCH WITH CHINESE PERSPECTIVE

TOWARD HEALING AND RESTORATION AGAINST MEDICAL DISTURBANCE

(YINAO) IN CHINA: RECONSIDERATIONS AND PROSPECTS OF RESPONSIBILITY

SEARCH AND MALPRACTICE RESOLUTION

HU Tianlong*

Abstract Imbalanced doctor-patient conflicts and divergences such as healthcare

disturbance (yinao) significantly undermine the already-weakened mutual trust and lead

to further deterioration of workplace safety and environment for medical professionals in

China. China has to implement all sorts of efforts to cut off the hostile settings where

medical disturbances are rooted and developed. Such measures should at least include

sufficient remedies provided by medical insurance, refined administrative mediation

mechanism, better workplace protective systems in medical institutions, and more

importantly, a full-pledged framework with enforceable rules to circumvent medical

disturbances and resolving medical accidents. It is necessary to stipulate administrative,

civil and criminal measures to punish medical disturbers while guaranteeing medical

professionals such as doctors, nurses and supporting staffs due secured medical practice.

In particular, a third-party dispute resolution mechanism, an improved appraisal platform

and protection of confidential information of patients and doctors should be implemented

in due course. In addition to a more refined legal framework, the social, cultural and

professional settings of medical practice should also be further improved by removing

“revenge” attacks on Chinese hospital professionals.

Keywords medical disturbance, dispute solution, administrative appraisal, medical

insurance, workplace safety

INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 562

I. THE NATURE AND CAUSES OF MEDICAL DISTURBANCE.......................................... 565

A. The Nature of Medical Disputes and Medical Disturbance .............................565

* (胡天龙) S.J.D., University of Michigan Law School, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA; Research Fellow,

International Monetary Institute, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China; Associate Professor, School of

Finance, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China. Contact: tianlongchina@163.com

All mistakes and omissions belong to the author. This article is supported by the Fundamental Research

Funds for the Central Universities, and the Research Funds of Renmin University of China (14XNJ002) and

(14XNF007).

562 FRONTIERS OF LAW IN CHINA [Vol. 12: 561

B. Classification of Medical Disturbance ...........................................................566

1. Classification by the Purpose......................................................................567

2. Classification by the Subject.......................................................................567

3. Classification by the Scale..........................................................................567

C. Major Causes for Medical Disturbances ........................................................568

1. Insufficient Medical Resources for Due Medical Needs.............................. 568

2. Failure to Resolve Conflicts in a Timely Manner ........................................569

3. Ethics Issues of Medical Professional......................................................... 570

4. Dysfunctional Hospital Management..........................................................571

II. INSTITUTIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE CAUSES OF MEDICAL DISTURBANCE .............. 572

A. Insufficient Remedies by Medical Liability Insurance.....................................572

B. Inadequate Prevention and Disposition against Medical Disturbance ............574

1. Hysteretic Dispute Settlement Mechanism..................................................574

2. Over-Simplified Administrative Mediation Mechanism ..............................575

3. Incompetency for Emergency Management................................................ 575

C. Measures to Ensure and Refine Protective System for Medical

Professionals.................................................................................................576

1. Bolstering Personal Safety Measures to Protect Doctors and Nurses ...........576

2. Detailing Punitive Measures against Medical Malpractice Accidents...........577

III. LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR ELIMINATING MEDICAL DISTURBANCES...................... 578

A. The Ninth Amendment to Criminal Law..........................................................578

B. Administrative Rulings for Circumventing Medical Disturbances ...................579

1. The Regulation on the Handling of Medical Accidents................................579

2. The Tort Liability Law ...............................................................................579

IV. PROPOSALS AND PROSPECTS FOR CIRCUMVENTING MEDICAL DISTURBANCES.... 580

A. Improving the Legislative Framework............................................................580

B. Establishing a Third-Party Dispute Resolution Mechanism ............................581

C. Improving Medical Disputes Appraisal Mechanism........................................ 581

D. Disclosure of Medical or Treatment Information............................................ 582

CONCLUSION........................................................................................................................ 583

INTRODUCTION

Medical malpractice probably drives the most dominant form of conflicts in the

progressively commercialized healthcare area in the past two decades in China, in

particular, the intensified, imbalanced doctor–patient conflicts and divergences such as

healthcare disturbance (“yinao”).1 The recent notoriously taxing feud between medical

professionals and patients in China has stirred rounds of national debates on regulatory

1 See generally, ZHANG Liuyi, Teresa E. Stone & ZHANG Jingping, Understanding the Rise of Yinao in

China: A Commentary on the Little Known Phenomenon of Healthcare Violence, 19(2) Nursing and Health

Sciences, (2017).