Henan health authorities investigate case of baby misdiagnosed as stillborn

Health authorities in Shangqiu, Central China's Henan province, will launch an investigation into a case where a local hospital misdiagnosed a premature baby as a stillbirth, leading the infant to suffer from cerebral palsy.

Henan radio and television station reported on Sunday morning that a local resident, surnamed Xu, and his wife, who was 26 weeks pregnant, sought doctors at the First People's Hospital of Shangqiu. The checkup results said the womb of Xu's wife was infected and suggested an immediate caesarean section.

When the operation was completed, the physician said the baby boy was stillborn. Xu told the doctor he wanted to take his son's body home and bury him, so the doctor gave him a yellow bag containing the child's body.

Just as Xu walked out of the hospital, the child squirmed in the bag and burst out crying. Xu immediately opened the bag and found the child's body was purple but his hands and feet were moving. He hurriedly took the child back to the hospital for treatment.

Because of this misdiagnosis, the child was in the bag for more than two hours, causing hypoxia, or oxygen deficiency, in the brain, which led to severe cerebral palsy.

In response to the misdiagnosis, the physician claimed he was not wrong because the child's expected survival rate was originally very low.

The incident soon sparked public outcry on the internet. On Tuesday, Henan's Health Commission released a statement saying it will set up an investigation team to probe into the matter.

They also will guide, in accordance with laws and regulations, both the hospital and Xu's family to properly resolve the medical dispute through a local mediation committee, judicial appraisal and other legal approaches.

When a relevant medical appraisal report is issued, the authorities will define and pursue responsibility according to provisions of the regulations on the prevention and treatment of medical disputes and give no leniency to the responsible party, the statement said.