If there is a dispute on the operating table, please be more rational and considerate on the Internet
"The doctor punched the head of the 82-year-old patient on the operating table", such a sensational headline threw a stone into the water of public opinion, rippling layers of ripples.
On December 19, a medical blogger posted that an 82-year-old patient in Guigang, Guangxi Province, felt unwell when he underwent surgery at the local Aier Eye Hospital, and was hit with "three fists" by the chief surgeon.
"82 years old", "punched in the face", "moaning in pain", "holding down his hands by medical staff", such words as "video surveillance footage" are undoubtedly very impactful. Although in the early morning of two days later, the hospital issued a statement explaining what happened, because the patient was intolerant after receiving local anesthesia and tried to "reach out and touch his eyes" during the operation, the doctor stopped it "in a hurry", and after the operation, "the two sides have eliminated the misunderstanding and reached an understanding".
Aier Eye Hospital issued a statement. (Photo/@爱尔眼科医院官方微博)
But such a statement obviously cannot completely calm the anger of netizens. "Why do doctors hit patients?", "How can you do it to the elderly!", "What is wrong with the doctors now?", although a week has passed, the discussion has extended to the broader doctor-patient relationship. As with every similar incident, many voices are moving further and further away from the event and the facts themselves.
On today's Internet, there is always no lack of traffic, no lack of one-sided anger, and no lack of a full screen of justice, what we really lack is a sense of understanding with warmth and human touch.
While paying attention to emotions,
It's more important to focus on the facts themselves
Let's first go back to the matter itself: judging from the video footage alone, is it appropriate for the doctor to beat the old man with his hands into fists?
This is also reflected in the follow-up treatment of the hospital. On the night of December 21, Aier Eye Hospital Group issued the latest statement on Weibo, saying that "the rough treatment of patients by the doctors involved has seriously violated the code of conduct for practitioners of medical institutions", and has been removed from relevant positions (presidents) and is subject to further investigation.
Let's take it a step further: What might be the reason behind the doctor's move?
Personal dissatisfaction or even resentment towards the patient seems to be very unlikely. I am afraid that this is not very likely, and it is difficult for such an arrogant doctor to become the dean.
Doctor-patient problems are common, and a sense of understanding is rare. (Photo/"The Life of a Witty Doctor")
The explanation in the hospital's statement, although there is a suspicion of downplaying responsibility, may be an important cause of the incident: the area near the eye is a sterile area for surgery, once touched, it may cause infection, and the operation is in progress, and the doctor's actions are to avoid danger, and "there is no motive or behavior to harm the patient".
It is important to note that the anesthesia used by the patient was "local anesthesia". Some media interviewed relevant medical experts, and experts said that when performing eye surgery, the doctor's operation is required to be very delicate, and once the patient does not cooperate well, it will greatly increase the risk of surgical failure. Therefore, before the operation, the medical staff usually fully communicate with the patient and the family, and the doctor may also intervene in the patient's movements to ensure that the operation is carried out normally, and may even temporarily suspend the operation due to the patient's nervousness.
An ophthalmologist told the media "medical community": "The operation itself is complicated, and the surgeon may affect the operation because of (the patient's) repeated movements, resulting in the operation not going well, and eventually losing control of his emotions." ”
"Emotionally out of control" doctors beat the elderly, the bad nature is certain. But while we condemn this kind of behavior, we must not be coerced by emotions, venting for the sake of venting, and criticizing for the sake of criticism. For example, under the above-mentioned report trying to find out the crux of the matter, some netizens were indignant and wanted to "find out these experts who were interviewed" because they "shielded the doctors involved", which of course does not help to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents.
(Photo/"The Life of a Witty Doctor")
What the public should do more is to dig out the reasons behind the matter and explore solutions, such as whether it is necessary to strengthen the preoperative education of patients, improve the medical skills of doctors while doing a good job in psychological training, and allocate special medical staff on site to care about the emotions of patients with local anesthesia, etc.
Public opinion events have repeatedly reminded us that we should pay attention to the facts while paying attention to emotions, so that such public discussions can maximize their value.
A sense of empathy is sometimes more precious than gold
Some netizens asked: Since local anesthesia is so easy to cause discomfort and movement to patients, why is general anesthesia not always used for eye surgery?
Immediately, other netizens gave professional answers: after all, the operation interfered by the patient's movements only accounts for a small proportion, and as we all know, compared with general anesthesia, local anesthesia brings less burden to the human body, and it is not scientific to adjust all the surgical execution specifications for a not too high possibility.
You see, this is the complexity of the doctor-patient problem, it's about science, it's about ethics, it's about economics. Questions that involve such a wide range of questions often cannot be covered by one or two simple answers.
But today's Internet welcomes absolute voices, because absolute voices are simple enough to understand and full of appeal. As a result, on many doctor-patient topics, the public always presents a "large" swing.
In some medical troubles, public opinion has accused patients one after another, "Some patients are too unreasonable now." In some doctor-patient disputes, public opinion has repeatedly insulted doctors, saying that "many doctors nowadays are really too unreasonable."
In individual cases, these voices may not be biased, but the repeated superficial expression does contribute to the emotional polarization of the public. In many cases, the medical community really has a rational and professional opinion, and the patient group really has a reasonable attitude, and what is urgently needed is a valuable "sense of understanding" as a bridge between the two.
The ancients often said that "comparing the heart with the heart", and the sense of understanding is the understanding of each other's demands and respect for each other's emotions. Especially at a time when doctor-patient issues are frequently on the hot search, such a sense of understanding is even more crucial.
For example, in 2018, a 3-year-old scald girl in Jiangsu Province woke up from anesthesia while the stitches were removed in the hospital, and the doctor hugged her into his arms, "Don't be afraid, the child, I'm here", quickly calming the child's emotions, and in 2015, an anesthesiologist in Changzhou took the initiative to experience general anesthesia and posted the process and feelings on the Internet to help himself and more peers truly understand the patient's feelings. This is the sense of empathy of the physician community.
Returning to this incident, after understanding the cause and effect, criticizing the doctors concerned, and supporting the victims, we should carefully study the causes and solutions of the problem, instead of waving the moral stick to defeat all the doctors, which is a sense of understanding when the public participates in doctor-patient discussions.
The sense of understanding must not be a thin mud, not a fifty boards, but a scientific rigor based on facts, and a pulse and warmth based on understanding, which is a good medicine for us to look at the problem of doctors and patients.
Why do we cherish this sense of understanding so much? The famous sociologist Susan Sontag described it in "The Metaphor of Disease":
"Illness is the dark side of life, a more troublesome form of citizenship. Everyone who comes to earth has dual citizenship, one belonging to the kingdom of health and the other to the kingdom of disease. Although we are all happy to use only the passports of the Kingdom of Health, sooner or later, at least for a while, each of us will be forced to admit that we are also citizens of another Kingdom. ”
Sooner or later, all people in the world will become patients, and doctors are no exception, and it is precisely the inevitability of this identity that makes us always have a sense of understanding, tolerance and respect.
Author: Yizhou
Proofreader: Lai Xiaoni
Exclusive edition: Ono