Clinic discovered to be fabricating illnesses and extorting money from patients.

The Saigon Medical Services Co., Ltd. Multi-specialty Clinic, located at 153-155 Nguyen Van Cu Street, Ward 2, District 5, Ho Chi Minh City, has been found to be fabricating illnesses and extorting money from patients.

The Saigon Medical Services Co., Ltd. Multi-specialty Clinic, located at 153-155 Nguyen Van Cu Street, Ward 2, District 5, Ho Chi Minh City, has been found to be fabricating illnesses and extorting money from patients.

The Inspectorate of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health will transfer the case file to the City Police for investigation and clarification of the clinic's violations of the law, and will handle the matter strictly in accordance with regulations.

The clinic is only approved by the Department of Health for the procedure "Medical abortion for pregnancies up to 7 weeks".

On October 24, 2024, the Inspectorate of the Department of Health received a plea for help from the family of a patient who was being held at a private clinic to "fabricate illnesses and extort money." The patient's family provided evidence of the "fabricated illness" exchange taking place right on the operating table.

Immediately after receiving the complaint, the Inspectorate of the Department of Health, in coordination with the local authorities, conducted a surprise inspection of the multi-specialty clinic belonging to Saigon Medical Services Co., Ltd., located at 153-155 Nguyen Van Cu Street, Ward 2, District 5, headed by Mr. NVĐ. as the company director.

Patient VTBT, female, born in 1992, came to the clinic on October 22, 2024, and was examined by Doctor BTTH, who ordered an ultrasound. The ultrasound results showed a 10-week and 4-day pregnancy, and the patient wished to terminate the pregnancy.

The clinic charged 5 million VND, and Doctor BTTH prescribed a medical abortion but recorded in the patient's medical record that the patient was maintaining the pregnancy with Obimin.

After two days of taking the medication, the patient returned for a follow-up examination. The doctor at BTTH prescribed an abortion but did not record it in the outpatient medical record, nor did he have the patient sign a consent form before performing the abortion procedure.

Right on the operating table, the clinic staff continuously used tricks and intimidation to pressure the family into paying extra money for a painless procedure costing 17 million VND. Unable to afford it, the patient's family called the Department of Health for help.

The multi-specialty clinic belonging to Saigon Medical Services Co., Ltd. was granted a license to operate medical examination and treatment services by the Department of Health on September 13, 2023, with Dr. LTH as the technical and professional supervisor.

Also at this address, in September 2023, this clinic was fined a total of 202 million VND by the Inspectorate of the Department of Health, along with an additional penalty of suspending operations for 4 months, for the same offenses of "inventing illnesses and extorting money," and providing medical examination and treatment services beyond the scope of expertise stated in its medical examination and treatment license.

The clinic staff were evasive, uncooperative, and refused to provide patient records and documents to the inspection team. Through the inspection, the violations were clearly identified, and the Inspectorate of the Department of Health will proceed with administrative sanctions against Saigon Medical Services Co., Ltd. for the following violations: Providing medical examination and treatment services beyond the scope of expertise stated in the medical examination and treatment operating license;

Failure to implement or inadequate implementation of infection control measures at the medical examination and treatment facility. The estimated fine is over 100,000,000 VND, and an additional penalty of the maximum penalty of "Revocation of the clinic's medical examination and treatment operating license for a period of 4 months" will be applied.

Simultaneously, administrative penalties were imposed on Doctor BTTH for the following violations: Failure to create patient medical records according to the legally prescribed form; Prescribing medical examination and treatment services for personal gain; and the maximum additional penalty applied: "Revocation of the medical practice certificate for Doctor BTTH for a period of 3 months".

In addition, the Inspectorate of the Department of Health will penalize individuals involved in violations during the course of medical examination and treatment, and will consider revoking their professional practice certificates (licenses) for a specified period.

Once the investigation results are available, the Inspectorate of the Department of Health will publicly announce them on the Department of Health's electronic portal so that the public can be informed and participate in monitoring. The Department of Health will continue to transfer the case file to the City Police Investigation Agency to investigate and clarify other suspected violations of the law by Saigon Medical Services Co., Ltd. in order to handle them strictly according to regulations.

The Department of Health advises people, when undergoing medical examination and treatment services at clinics in the city, to check the Department of Health's website to find out which procedures the clinic has been approved for and to identify the doctors practicing at the clinic.

If you suspect a clinic is operating without a license or a doctor is practicing beyond their permitted scope, immediately call the Health Department Inspectorate via the hotline number 0989401155 or through the "Online Health" app so that the Health Department Inspectorate can promptly gather information, conduct surprise inspections, and take strict action.

This is also an information channel to help patients prevent and avoid situations like the one mentioned above, where the clinic was only permitted by the Department of Health to perform "medical abortion for pregnancies up to 7 weeks," while the clinic performed abortion procedures at 10 weeks and 4 days, exceeding its permitted scope of expertise.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/phat-hien-phong-kham-ve-benh-moi-tien-benh-nhan-d228718.html