A handful damage doctor-patient relationship

A RECENT "DEATHBED" WILL, handwritten by a patient in his 60s before a low-risk operation at a hospital in Yueyang, Hunan province, led to heated discussions on the doctor-patient relationship after it was found in the operating room and posted online by a surgeon. The will demand the hospital to compensate the man's family with at least 300,000 yuan ($48,043) if he died during surgery. The man survived. Comments:

It might seem absurd, but the patient's will was a result of his lack of medical knowledge, lack of communication with doctors, and more importantly, lack of trust in the country's hospitals. The root cause of similar concerns lies in the fact that patients can hardly find a trustworthy "referee" to act as judge in the event of any conflict with doctors.

Qianjiang Evening News, May 11