Don't let journalism be a fear of professionals

Many doctors have said that they are very shy when meeting and interacting with the press, even if it is just to share professional information. Because many doctors have been "devastated" by the words of journalists.

Many doctors say that the pressure of work is very high, but they are afraid to meet journalists for fear of trouble after their words.

Not long ago, public opinion was stirred up by the news that Dr. Phan Xuan Tuoc (Nguyen Trai Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City) was trapped by a journalist during an interview, putting him in a passive position and becoming the one to attack his own colleague.

And most recently, the Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health could not control his emotions and was moved to tears when a newspaper reported that he was drunk, reeking of alcohol during working hours, did not receive reporters, and pushed responsibility...

Explaining to a large number of reporters, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health Nguyen Tan Binh explained each issue and affirmed that he was a principal and a teacher of many generations of students, so he always tried to live an exemplary life: “Putting my image like that and using those words makes people have a wrong view of the health sector. I personally would not go and eliminate an entire sector like that. It is a huge insult…”

Dr. Vo Xuan Son, a former neurosurgeon at Cho Ray Hospital, shared that he had also been involved in similar cases when a patient sued him on the grounds that his surgery left him paralyzed. Dr. Vo Xuan Son said: “In fact, this is a difficult case, with a low chance of success and a high risk of complications. The patient and his family were explained very clearly about the difficulties and prognosis. Although the surgery has a low success rate, if not operated on, the patient will certainly suffer from paralysis, urinary incontinence and other neurological complications.

That was why the patient was so desperate for surgery. With nothing left to lose, I agreed to operate on the patient. The surgery was completely without complications and could be considered a success. The patient got better and his condition improved. However, after 2 years, the disease became worse again. The patient wanted another surgery.

Like last time, I explained in detail, the patient, and I, still hoped to try our best, if we were lucky, good things would come. This time, the success only lasted for 1 year, after which the patient's legs started to weaken again.

At that time, the patient asked me to continue the surgery, but after 2 surgeries, the water was drained, so I decided to stop. The patient turned around and asked me to pay compensation, and then, with the help of a reporter, he sued me to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health. The scientific council of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health met and concluded that the surgery was correct. The reporter and the patient did not agree and filed a lawsuit.

At that time, a reporter came to see me. I provided full documents and evidence of what I had explained and the patient begged for surgery. But when the article was published, I was really disappointed because I did not expect the press could write such a false story. After that, about a dozen newspapers reprinted it, some of them made up more, even though no one asked me, even by phone, email...

At that time, I was very sad, because I had done my best, and also done charity work, and even gave the patient a patch, a material used in the surgery, worth tens of millions of dong. The patient had surgery for spinal cord tumor, one of the most difficult diseases in spinal surgery, twice in a private hospital, a fairly high-class one, staying in the hospital for a total of nearly 20 days, the total cost for both times was less than 45 million dong, including food. Yet I was treated like that.

When I went to court, the judge sided with the patient, obviously I was wrong, and asked me to pay compensation. They tried many ways to prove me wrong. Fortunately, the medical management agencies were very impartial, the equipment companies, and the European quality certification organization (CE) were enthusiastic in helping me, I proved that I did the right thing and was completely legal. But the Court of First Instance still concluded that I was at fault, because... I operated on the patient. After that, the Court of Appeal overturned the first instance judgment, the patient withdrew the lawsuit, and the lawsuit ended.

The story left a bitter taste in my mouth. And since then, I have always fought against malicious articles targeting medical staff.”

Dr. Vo Xuan Son shared: “In my opinion, journalists should calm down. They need to study and improve their skills to learn how to approach people who need to be interviewed. They should not give themselves the right to force others to drop all their work to meet them privately. In addition, every square centimeter of newspaper space is very valuable, so they should use it for practical purposes rather than to attack an individual.”

According to Infonet.vn