Society

Official in oxygen scandal still being paid

By Zhang Jiawei (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-04-15 15:38
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An official who was expelled from the Communist Party in the industrial oxygen scandal is still getting a salary, the Guangzhou Daily reported Thursday.

A children's hospital in Chenzhou of Central China's Hunan province was found to have purchased thousands of cylinders of industrial-grade oxygen from illegal suppliers.

Li Xilian, secretary of party branch in the hospital who was directly responsible for the incident, was expelled from the Communist Party; and seven other people received inner-party warnings or administrative removal from office, chinanews.com.cn reported Monday.

Patients who have used the hospital's industrial oxygen are still waiting to find out whether those who received administrative punishments would be identified as criminals, the Guangzhou Daily said.

Deng Liqiang, head of the legal affairs department of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, said it was still too early to say whether those who were responsible for the incident are criminals because the hospital has to prove the use of industrial oxygen made the patients' illnesses worse.