Profit overwhelms medical ethics
Reporting to SGGP Newspaper, Ms. NTT (living in Nha Be Commune, Ho Chi Minh City) said that she lost a tooth and went to VL Dental Clinic ( Dien Bien Phu Street) to get an implant. Here, she was examined by a person wearing a blouse and told that her teeth were badly damaged, with worn necks, worn porcelain, small holes, and some were cracked and rotten. If she did not have porcelain crowns, they would all be damaged, she would not be able to eat, and she would have to get an implant for her entire jaw.
After consulting, Dr. Khang gave her a type of porcelain that costs 5 million VND/tooth, the more you cover, the more discount you get, and advised her to cover the entire jaw for 50 million VND, and implants for 20 million VND. After that, the consulting doctor advised her to change to a better type of porcelain teeth, with a lifetime warranty.
“They quoted an exorbitant price, I didn’t agree so they reduced the price to 100 million VND (including implants) and asked me to pay 80 million VND in advance, and the remaining 20 million VND to be paid in 4 months, interest-free,” Ms. T. shared.
When she went to have her porcelain teeth fitted, Ms. T. was asked to pay an additional 20 million VND, and to sign a loan contract, and the dental clinic kept her ID card, and would return the money when she had paid it all. Not only that, Ms. T. had to provide 3 phone numbers of her relatives, if she did not agree, they would not have her porcelain teeth fitted and would not refund her money. Because she was afraid of losing her deposit, Ms. T. accepted.
However, after many visits, the doctor said that she had sinusitis, so the implant did not have bone and was often infected. Therefore, the doctor removed the implant and suggested that she go for sinusitis treatment and come back when she was cured. However, Ms. T. said that she had chronic sinusitis that could not be cured. The doctor refused to perform the procedure but also did not refund her money…
Recently, many people have reported that Viet Khang Thu Duc General Clinic (83C Dang Van Bi Street, Thu Duc Ward, Ho Chi Minh City) "fabricates illnesses and extorts money". Through inspection, the Department of Health confirmed: Viet Khang Thu Duc General Clinic has recently been identified as a hot spot in medical examination and treatment activities, and is often reported by people for "fabricating illnesses and extorting money" in the same form: "Initially, the clinic offered examinations at low prices, but then the clinic staff continuously announced that additional illnesses had arisen, requiring many services, causing the cost to skyrocket. There are cases up to tens of millions of dong".
Similarly, Khang Thinh General Clinic (No. 114 Tran Dinh Xu Street, Cau Ong Lanh Ward, Ho Chi Minh City) was also recently discovered by the Department of Health Inspectorate to be performing medical abortions using drugs, prescribing paraclinical tests and tests for “vague” reasons, charging for various services but the medical records did not show…
Strong sanctions, independent supervision
According to Associate Professor, Doctor, Doctor Tang Chi Thuong, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health, the term “painting illness” is not yet in the Vietnamese dictionary, but when it is said, everyone understands its meaning. It is the behavior of some people who take advantage of the trust of patients in doctors during medical examination and treatment to “paint” some unreal diseases, or if there is a disease, “paint” dangerous complications that require immediate treatment with expensive treatment techniques, not to mention the quality of treatment. This has caused outrage among medical staff because it challenges the ethical traditions of the medical profession.
“Before using medical examination and treatment services, people should be alert, carefully check the information when choosing a medical examination and treatment facility, look up necessary information at the Medical Practice Lookup Portal of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health (https://tracuu.medinet.org.vn); do not rush to pay unusual and unclear fees; when suspecting that they are being “faked with illness or having money taken”, call the hotline of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health: 0967771010 and 0989401155 so that the Department of Health can have information, promptly detect and handle according to regulations”, said Associate Professor, Dr. Tang Chi Thuong.
When people discover or suspect that medical practitioners are "faking illnesses", they can immediately report it to the Department of Health. In addition, state management agencies must have proactive solutions to detect, independently monitor and effectively operate the "Quick Response Process in Detecting and Handling Violations of the Law on Health" to promptly and strictly handle violations of the law by medical facilities that seek every way to collect money from patients.
On July 30, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health held an urgent meeting with leaders of several hospitals to find solutions to prevent the situation of "brokers" in medical examination and treatment.
At the meeting, hospital leaders frankly shared the difficulties as well as many solutions in controlling the flow of patients, especially at the hospital gates - where spontaneous contact between patients and outsiders is likely to arise.
According to Associate Professor, Doctor, Doctor Tang Chi Thuong, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health, the situation of hospital brokers is not a new problem but has recently increased again, especially in hospitals with a large number of patients, where people are easily lured into outside services due to lack of information. The city's health sector always clearly defines its zero tolerance stance towards any "broker" behavior. This phenomenon seriously harms the rights of patients and the reputation of hospitals, while creating a negative environment that affects the quality of service of the entire sector.
Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/tai-dien-tinh-trang-phong-kham-ve-benh-moi-tien-post806156.html
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