godfather of surgery

Chapter 1207 An Important Lesson

However, Adams came to China specifically for Professor Yang's new treatment; otherwise, he wouldn't have traveled thousands of miles to be hospitalized here. He was pondering how to use this new treatment.

For example, he could work with his friends to open a green channel in the UK through humanitarian aid to import the biological agent ahead of time. However, this would require the consent of Professor Yang's laboratory, and he might not agree to this approach. He has said that priority should be given to supplying it to volunteers in the Phase I clinical trial.

However, the subjects in Phase I clinical trials are all healthy people, and Adams is a patient, so he does not meet the requirements. Moreover, Phase I clinical trials are currently limited to China, so he doesn't even have a chance to take advantage of the situation.

Adams wouldn't give up this opportunity. There was another way: to expand the Phase I clinical trial to the UK. As long as he could introduce the biological reagent to the UK through the Phase I clinical trial, he would have a solution.

After much thought, Adams realized that these were all unorthodox methods, none of which were legitimate channels. He asked, "Can I stay here and wait until the Phase I clinical trial is over before participating in the Phase II clinical trial?" Adams decided to hold on to this sliver of hope, as he had no other options but to cling to it tightly.

“You can go to Germany for the Phase II clinical trial. Germany is our Phase II clinical trial center in Europe. However, you need to go through their screening process to be included in the volunteer list. Currently, we have three centers for Phase II clinical trials: one in our home country, and the other two in the United States and Germany. Our home country trial only recruits Chinese patients.” Yang Ping understands the mindset of all patients, but the process must be followed.

If he rashly goes against the procedures and causes any trouble, it would be a global disaster. He cannot do that.

He was well aware that the K-virus therapy had shown good efficacy and safety, but this was only confirmed on a small scale and had not yet been tested through scientific clinical trials. Science cannot be based on subjective speculation; it must withstand rigorous testing.

When Adams' ideas failed, he gave up and adopted a roundabout approach: he settled down first and then slowly came up with a solution.

Even if there's no solution for the time being, as Professor Yang just mentioned, he could still go to Germany to participate in the Phase II clinical trial. However, he doesn't know that all the Phase II clinical trial slots in Germany have already been snapped up, so there's no chance for him to get one.

However, there is another possibility: increasing the number of participants in the Phase II clinical trial. This is entirely possible because there are not enough participants at any of the three centers. Within the limits of the law, increasing the number of participants would be a good solution, as it would benefit more patients and increase the amount of data from the trial.

"The spots over there have already been snapped up," Song Ziming reminded him softly.

Yang Ping recalled the list Tang Shun had shown him not long ago. Indeed, all the spots had been snapped up long ago. What could he do?

Since everyone is so enthusiastic, Yang Ping can reluctantly increase the number of slots for Phase II clinical trials, and can even conduct Phase II clinical trials ahead of schedule. This is permitted in drug clinical trials. When Phase I clinical trials show that the drug is safe and there are preliminary signs of efficacy, Phase II clinical trials can be considered to be carried out simultaneously. This design is called "seamless connection" or "combined trial", which can significantly shorten the research and development cycle.

Yang Ping now plans to do this. He has no shortage of volunteers. A large number of patients around the world are willing to serve as volunteers, and they are scrambling to get a volunteer spot. As for production capacity, Ruixing's mass production laboratory is ready to start at any time. If necessary, their preparation laboratory can start early.

Adams was clearly unwilling to give up. He was very persistent. He said that even if he couldn't use K therapy, he was willing to stay in China and receive treatment from Professor Yang Ping. He had already made up his mind that no matter whether he could be cured or not, he would stay here for treatment. He was determined to go all out.

In fact, his idea was correct. As long as he stayed at Sanbo Hospital and remained Professor Yang's patient, Professor Yang would definitely do his best and would not abandon him.
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The patient who had a broken guidewire spent several days in the ICU and was in very stable condition. He has since been transferred out of the ICU because the golden time for opening the blocked cerebral blood vessels had passed. In the end, he still had some sequelae, such as numbness and weakness in his right limbs.

The patient, surnamed Qi, is a retired professor. His son is also a professor and a key talent introduced by the Thousand Talents Program of Nandu University of Science and Technology.

Because he lived near the Municipal People's Hospital, and his condition was critical, he was sent directly to the Municipal People's Hospital for emergency treatment.

Whether it's myocardial ischemia or cerebral ischemia, these vascular occlusive diseases all require the blood vessels to be opened as quickly as possible to allow the tissues to receive blood perfusion. Otherwise, it can cause infarction, ultimately leading to life-threatening situations or permanent disability. Myocardial infarction can easily result in death, while cerebral infarction can leave severe disabilities.

As a family member of the patient, his son, Professor Qi, was very understanding. He did not pursue the responsibility of the surgeon, Dr. Jiao, nor did he file a lawsuit through legal channels, and he had no intention of doing so at all.

However, he requested that the Municipal People's Hospital hold a hospital-wide discussion, and that he participate in the discussion and speak on stage. Dean Chen agreed to his request. In fact, Professor Qi did not make such a request. Dean Chen would have also held a hospital-wide discussion on this case, focusing on the issue rather than the person, so that everyone could learn from the experience, accumulate knowledge, take it as a warning, and prevent similar incidents from happening again.

Because the patient is currently hospitalized at Sanbo Hospital, and the incident occurred at the Municipal People's Hospital, and Sanbo Hospital ultimately resolved the issue successfully, this case involved both hospitals. After consultation between the two hospitals, they held a joint case discussion via video conference. The meeting first analyzed and discussed the case from a medical technology perspective, then analyzed and discussed the shortcomings in the treatment process, and finally proposed specific methods for future improvements. After the discussion among the medical staff concluded, Professor Qi, the patient's son, spoke last.

Professor Qi stood on the podium, looked around the room, and then said to everyone: "First of all, I am here today to listen in and to speak, not to pursue any responsibility."

He turned to Dr. Jiao in the front row and said, "Secondly, I want to thank Dr. Jiao. Although Dr. Jiao had shortcomings in the diagnosis and treatment process, I believe that was not his original intention. His original intention must have been to do his best to cure my father. It was just that after the accident, he lacked experience in handling it, which led to chaos in the subsequent handling. However, he is willing to stand here today to admit his mistakes and recognize his shortcomings. I think the hospital should give him a chance. Every doctor will make mistakes in the process of growing up. We need to analyze the nature, magnitude and cause of the mistakes in detail."

Professor Qi's voice was deep: "I am now standing here to speak as a family member. This is probably the first time you have spoken to a family member at a hospital-wide case discussion. My father is currently hospitalized at Sanbo Hospital. He is now out of danger. I want to thank you and Sanbo Hospital for your efforts."

His tone was calm, without the slightest agitation or expression of dissatisfaction: "As I just said, I'm not standing here today to pursue responsibility. I can say that I will not use legal means to pursue responsibility, much less resort to medical disputes to resolve the issue, because I agree with your point of view. Medicine is a very special profession. No doctor can guarantee a cure for any disease, nor can they guarantee that the entire treatment process will go smoothly. Any patient has the probability of experiencing an accident. However, when an accident occurs, we should have an honest and responsible attitude. We cannot evade, we cannot cover it up, and we cannot make the same mistake again."

"Actually, you definitely bear some responsibility in this matter. As I just said, I'm not saying this to assign blame, but to remind everyone. First, when my father encountered complications during surgery, no one informed us; we were completely unaware of everything. Second, even when the surgeon encountered difficulties that he couldn't resolve, and the surgery was out of control, he still didn't initiate emergency procedures. The surgeon's actions were enough to cause the patient's death. Fortunately, the hospital management intervened in the end, preventing this tragedy."

"I hope everyone will learn from this. There are so many medical disputes now, and even doctors complain about the poor medical environment. What are the reasons for this? Opinions are so divided. From a doctor's perspective, many patients are unreasonable and prone to causing trouble, and the media also fans the flames, seemingly wanting to stir up trouble. But from a patient's perspective, some doctors over-treat, are only focused on making money, lack professional skills, and have no trustworthiness whatsoever. Patients have to be wary of doctors as soon as they enter the hospital. Are either of them wrong? No. Are they both right? No. Why is this? Because they are both looking at the issue from their own perspectives, with prejudice. I believe most doctors are good, but you can't deny that a small number of bad apples have caused patients to become like this. Similarly, I believe most patients and their families are good, but a small number of families are indeed unreasonable and shamelessly try to extort money. Some unscrupulous media outlets exploit this division, fanning the flames and creating topics. It's a combination of factors that has led to this situation."

"Because of this, patients and doctors are in a state of rift, which easily leads to emotional confrontation between them. This is not a good phenomenon, and we should change this situation."

The professor's gentle and eloquent speech touched many people. Yang Ping was sitting in the conference room and could see through the video that it was a case discussion at the People's Hospital, where he heard Professor Qi's speech.

A very small minority of doctors can truly be called black sheep, and it is these black sheep who have damaged the reputation of the entire medical profession. The majority of doctors work diligently and fulfill their responsibilities.

"There's a very strange phenomenon right now: doctors think they're a vulnerable group, and patients think they're a vulnerable group. Who's really the vulnerable group? I don't even know anymore."

"If everyone works together, every doctor can improve their professional skills and be more responsible in their work, and if every patient and their family can be more tolerant of doctors' non-principle mistakes, I believe that the doctor-patient relationship will get better and better."

“I heard from Dean Chen that Dr. Jiao would be disciplined, his surgical privileges would be revoked for a year, and his annual bonus would be canceled. I told Dean Chen that revokes his surgical privileges for a year and requires him to retrain, which is correct, but stopping his annual bonus is unacceptable. This would seriously affect his life. He made a mistake, but he should be given a chance to correct it because I believe his initial intention was good. He didn't break the guidewire intentionally; it was an accident. It's just that his attitude and methods in handling the accident were inappropriate. I don't know why, but I think that to avoid such things, in addition to providing professional education for doctors in this area, we also need to prevent such things from happening in the management system. We can't let this happen again with another doctor next time.”

"These are my honest thoughts, and I hope everyone here will think about them seriously."

The audience was quiet, without applause. After a while, applause gradually broke out, eventually turning into enthusiastic applause, because everyone felt that he was right. Some of his words struck a chord with the soul, forcing people to think.

After the patient's family finished speaking, Dr. Jiao also went on stage to make a self-criticism. Before making the self-criticism, Dean Chen said: "Doctors sometimes cannot avoid making mistakes, but we must treat mistakes with the right attitude. I always tell everyone: respect life. Dr. Jiao is able to bravely face his mistakes and stand here, which shows that he has made progress. This will have a profound impact on his future medical career."

Dr. Jiao was very moved that the patient's family did not pursue any responsibility against him and even spoke up for him, hoping that the hospital would give him a lighter punishment.

His self-criticism was also very insightful. He analyzed his mindset at the time. He was young and impetuous and thought he could handle it himself. He felt that he would lose face if he called for the head doctor or other colleagues for help. As the surgery progressed, he became very confused and anxious. The more anxious he became, the more he went down a dead end. Now, he realizes how foolish he was. Face is not worth anything in the face of life. He will remember this in the future.

"This case discussion is very special. In the future, we should also discuss cases where mistakes have been made in this way. It is not right to just punish doctors. We should give equal importance to education and punishment, learn from past mistakes to avoid future ones, and save lives. Our goal is to learn from the lessons and prevent similar incidents from happening again," said Dean Xia from the side.

The patient's family member was actually quite magnanimous. What he said made perfect sense, especially from the perspective of the patient's family member regarding the doctor-patient relationship. In fact, trust between doctors and patients is a two-way street, as is distrust. Building a harmonious doctor-patient relationship requires everyone to do their part and to understand and tolerate each other.

Finally, the patient also gave a speech at Sanbo Hospital. He expressed his gratitude to all the medical staff, saying he understands the possibility of unexpected events in medical practice. Doctors are not gods; they are human and make mistakes. He believes that no doctor is without the goal of curing patients, and no doctor intends to harm a patient. Dr. Jiao was the same; he certainly did his best in treatment. However, due to inexperience, he encountered an unexpected event and deserves appropriate punishment, but more importantly, he needs to be educated. If every doctor hesitates and is timid, they will inevitably fail to grow into excellent doctors.

Yang Ping thought to himself, "I'm truly grateful to this father and son; they've taught all the medical staff a lesson."