"In 10 days, my 82-year-old father-in-law will be released from prison."
On June 2, a reporter from Huashang Daily Gale News learned from his family that Zhao Moumou, who was charged with illegal medical practice and sentenced to 10 years in prison for illegal medical practice, was recently sentenced to 2 years and 11 months in prison by the Honghe Prefecture Intermediate People's Court in Yunnan Province.
The man unfortunately passed away six days after having his teeth extracted from his relatives, and the "old village doctor" was arrested on suspicion of illegally practicing medicine
Mr. Wang is a native of Hengnan County, Hunan Province. On June 2, when he mentioned the family's experience of appealing for his father-in-law Zhao Moumou, Mr. Wang had endless words.
According to Mr. Wang, his father-in-law is a native of Jinping County, Yunnan Province, and was born in 1942. In October 1992, the Jinping County Health Bureau issued his father-in-law a "license to practice individual medical personnel" (92 Wei Zhi Zi No. 023). In the same month, the Jinping County Health Bureau issued a "Notice on Approval of Individual Practice of Medicine" to approve his father-in-law's practice of medicine. In May 1999, the Yunnan Provincial Department of Health also issued his father-in-law the "Yunnan Provincial Rural Doctor Traditional Chinese Medicine Training Certificate".
Photo courtesy of the interviewee
Mr. Wang's wife, Ms. Zhao, recalls that at the beginning of the century, her father, Mr. Zhao, stopped practicing at the age of 60 and returned home to farm. Although the old man no longer officially practices medicine, sometimes relatives and neighbors come to his home to seek medical treatment, but Zhao Moumou can't refuse, so he sees it for the villagers.
Photo of Zhao Moumou doing farm work before being imprisoned Courtesy of the interviewee
Ms. Zhao said that on February 18, 2020, one of her relatives, Mr. Li (in his 50s, Ms. Zhao's cousin), accompanied by his son, went to Zhao's house to have his teeth extracted. On the third day of tooth extraction, the other party, accompanied by his family, came to Zhao's house again, saying that there was some pain in the place where the tooth was extracted, and asked Zhao to continue treatment. Zhao Moumou saw that the other party's face was badly swollen, so he asked the other party to go to a big hospital for treatment. On the same day, the other party went to the local hospital for treatment, but he did not expect to die at home on the night he was discharged from the hospital 3 days later.
Ms. Zhao said that after her cousin's death, her family approached her father for compensation. Her father refused to compensate because he had died after treatment in a major hospital, six days had passed since the tooth was extracted, and that his death had nothing to do with his treatment. A few days later, the other party's family called the police, and more than 9 months later, the police filed a case, and more than a year later, her father was detained and arrested on suspicion of illegal medical practice.
The "old village doctor" was sentenced to 10 years on charges of illegally practicing medicine, and his appeal was dismissed
In April 2021, the Jinping County Procuratorate accused Zhao Moumou of illegally practicing medicine and filed a public prosecution with the Jinping County Court.
The Jinping County Procuratorate alleged: The defendant Zhao Moumou engaged in medical activities at his home without obtaining the "Medical Institution Practice License" and did not have the qualifications of a doctor, causing the death of the patient, and his behavior violated the criminal law and should be investigated for criminal responsibility for the crime of illegal medical practice.
During the handling of the case, the family of the deceased filed a civil lawsuit attached to the criminal case, demanding that Zhao Moumou compensate about 300,000 yuan in death compensation, funeral expenses, and spiritual solace.
Zhao and the defense lawyer submitted that there was no causal relationship between Li's death and his medical acts, and that Zhao's actions did not constitute the crime of illegal medical practice.
The court of first instance ascertained through trial that the defendant Zhao XX engaged in medical activities at his home without obtaining the "Medical Institution Practice License" and not having the qualifications of a physician. On June 20, 2019, the Jinping County Health Bureau ordered him to ban and immediately stop illegal diagnosis and treatment activities by June 23, 2019.
On February 18, 2020, Li went to Zhao's clinic to see a doctor, and after Zhao helped Li extract his teeth, he gave Li an infusion. Later, the place where Li's tooth was extracted was in pain, and he was taken by his family to a hospital in Mengzi City (county-level city) for hospitalization, and Li died on February 24, 2020.
According to the appraisal of the Forensic Appraisal Center of the Jinping County Public Security Bureau, Li's death was caused by periodontal cellulitis, which caused swelling of the face and neck and compression of the trachea, causing the progressive aggravation of dyspnea, resulting in systemic organ failure, and diabetes was the auxiliary cause of death.
The court also ascertained that after the victim's condition worsened, he was sent to a hospital in Mengzi City for 3 days of inpatient treatment, and was discharged with a diagnosis of: sepsis; septic shock; cellulitis of the left maxillofacial area, neck, upper chest; respiratory failure; Diabetes; There are more than 20 conditions such as generalized eczema.
On March 9, 2020, the Jinping County Health Bureau decided to impose an administrative penalty of confiscation of relevant drugs and devices, confiscation of 90 yuan of illegal gains, and a fine of 3,000 yuan on Zhao, and ordered him to immediately correct the illegal acts.
In July 2021, the court of first instance ruled that the defendant Zhao Moumou committed the crime of illegal medical practice and was sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined 10,000 yuan; Defendant Zhao Moumou compensated 70% of the various compensation losses proposed by the plaintiff in the civil lawsuit attached to the criminal case (the court held that Li suffered from diabetes and other diseases before his death and bore certain responsibility for the occurrence of his death), that is, RMB 205,435.027.
After the first-instance verdict was announced, Zhao and his family were dissatisfied and appealed. On September 28, 2021, the Honghe Intermediate People's Court rejected the appeal and upheld the original judgment.
The judicial appraisal showed that the other hospital was responsible, and the procuratorate recommended a retrial, but the court reversed the verdict
Mr. Wang said that after the verdict of the second instance was announced, they applied to the Honghe Prefecture Procuratorate for a protest in accordance with the law.
After the Honghe Prefecture Procuratorate accepted the case, it entrusted the Judicial Appraisal Center of Kunming Medical University to conduct a judicial appraisal of Li's death responsibility.
The appraisal opinion is: Zhao XX and a hospital in Mengzi City were at fault in the process of treating Li, and the fault was the main cause and main role in the death of the person being evaluated. Among them, a hospital in Mengzi City had the following faults: insufficient understanding of the severity of the disease of the identified person, insufficient assessment, and failure to invite a specialist consultation from the Department of Stomatology; Insufficient attention was paid to the progress of the appraised person's condition and the results of related examinations, insufficient attention was paid to it, and "abscess incision and drainage" was not performed on the appraised person in a timely manner, and the airway was not opened in a timely manner.
According to the appraisal opinion, Zhao Moumou and a hospital in Mengzi City should jointly bear the main responsibility, and it is recommended that the fault participation rate is about 90%. Among them, a hospital in Mengzi City should bear the main responsibility, and the recommended fault participation is about 60%, and Zhao Moumou should bear secondary responsibility, and the recommended fault participation is about 40%.
Mr. Wang said that after the appraisal results came out, the Honghe Prefecture Procuratorate submitted a procuratorial proposal for a retrial to the Honghe Prefecture Intermediate People's Court at the beginning of this year on the grounds that "there is new evidence to prove that the original judgment was indeed wrong." On March 8, 2024, the Honghe Intermediate People's Court decided to retry the case.
The Honghe Prefecture Intermediate People's Court held in the retrial that some of the facts found in the original first and second instance were unclear, and based on the new evidence, the defendant Zhao XX's illegal practice of medicine did not constitute "causing the death of the patient", but constituted "serious circumstances", and the original first and second instance judgments erred in the application of law, and the retrial corrected it. At the same time, based on the new evidence, the original first- and second-instance judgments erroneously divided the liability for the attached civil part, and the retrial corrected it.
Recently, the Honghe Prefecture Intermediate People's Court ruled as follows: to revoke the previous rulings (judgments) made by the court and the Jinping County Court; Defendant Zhao XX committed the crime of illegally practicing medicine and was sentenced to two years and eleven months imprisonment and a fine of 5,000 yuan.
Photo courtesy of the interviewee
"In this case, the pathological causes and pathological formation of the deceased are not discussed medically, but the responsibility is divided according to the determination of similar traffic accidents, and we regret the results of the retrial." Mr. Wang said that his father-in-law was a qualified village doctor who had obtained the relevant certificates, which did not indicate the expiration date and replacement period, and should be valid for life. When the father-in-law is released from prison, they will discuss with the old man about continuing to complain.
Huashang Daily Gale News reporter She Hui Editor Li Zhi
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