Patient's father beats doctor, forces him to kneel and is arrested

On the afternoon of June 19, Nam Tu Liem District Police (Hanoi) announced that they had detained Tran Tuan Anh (25 years old) for disturbing public order, and are consolidating the case file for further proceedings on the charges of intentionally causing injury and humiliating others. In connection with the incident, a person named Tan who accompanied Tuan Anh is being sought.

According to the leader of Vietnam Sports Hospital, on the afternoon of June 17, Dr. Pham Dinh Vinh, working at the Traditional Medicine Department, was beaten with weapons by Tuan Anh (father of a child patient) and Tan outside the gate, dragged inside and forced to kneel and apologize. Dr. Vinh suffered injuries to his spinal cord, intervertebral disc, and neck area.

The area where two men forced the doctor to kneel and apologize. Photo: Son Duong

The initial cause is believed to be that the patient's family was upset about the diagnosis of the 5-year-old child's elbow injury by Dr. Vinh on May 30.

The Sports Hospital leadership confirmed that the hospital did not receive any complaints from the patient's family when examining and treating the child at the hospital. The doctor who was assaulted reported that he followed professional procedures and communicated properly at the hospital.

On the morning of June 19, the hospital established a professional council to review the medical examination and treatment process.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Health, in the first 3 months of the year, there were dozens of cases of patients and their relatives entering hospitals to assault, threaten doctors and nurses, and cause disorder.

The incidents occurred mainly in provincial hospitals (60%) and central hospitals (20%). 70% of those assaulted were doctors, 15% were nurses. 90% of the incidents occurred on hospital grounds.