Photo: IC

The Health Commission of Shangqiu in Central China's Henan Province announced on Tuesday that it will investigate a case involving a premature newborn delivered during the 26th week of pregnancy, which was surprisingly found to be alive after being mistakenly diagnosed to be dead by the responsible doctor.

The baby, treated as a dead fetus at birth in September 2019 at the First People's Hospital in Shangqiu before being put in a closed plastic bag for around two hours, was later rescued but diagnosed with severe cerebral palsy caused by a lack of oxygen and untimely treatment.

"The baby has been receiving treatment at the hospital. He is still suffering some complications due to an intrauterine infection and premature birth," a staff member from the department that deals with doctor-patient disputes of the hospital told the Global Times on Tuesday.

"We have been cooperating with the family to solve the problem," the staff member said.

The father, surnamed Xu, found that his baby was alive when he was leaving the hospital with the fetus, and sent for help immediately. "I felt the 'plastic bag' move and heard a weak cry, like a cat," Xu said, adding that the child was moving his hands and feet in the bag despite his whole body turning purple, and umbilical cord not tied.

Xu accused the doctor for mistakenly diagnosing the baby and suspected the baby was not treated well after being taken out from the womb via C-section, leading to the tragedy.

"We checked his situation after he was born, he still had a very weak breath after he was born," the head of the obstetrics and gynecology department at the hospital answered when asked by a local TV host about whether they checked the boy was alive or not.

But she argued the family had signed a consent form before the surgery, refusing to save the baby.

However, Xu and his wife said they had never been told the baby was alive. Instead, they were told by the doctor the baby was dead even before the birth.

Xu was also asked to sign a consent form saying the fetus would be taken away by the family after birth, three hours before the surgery.

"The family members can apply for identification by the relevant legal departments if they have any concerns," a responsible person from the department dealing with doctor-patient disputes of the hospital told the media on Monday. "We are willing to bear full responsibility if the problem is on our side, and will never shirk our responsibilities."

The case resulted in heated discussions regarding medical staffs' ethics and professionalism. Many criticized their indifference to the new born. 

"The doctor said in person that he had a weak heartbeat. Then why he was put into a waste bag? Doesn't she feel guilty?" one netizen commented.

"If the family didn't decide to take away the baby, the life would have probably been gone forever," another said.

Some also worried the irresponsibility of some medical staff in the hospital may have smeared the great image set up by those brave medical staff fighting COVID-19 at the frontlines, aggregating tensions between the doctor-patient relationship.

"This is not a medical dispute, but rather medical malpractice. Please don't treat all doctors a certain way based on this incident, not every doctor is so subjective and irresponsible," a netizen commented.