The nature of psychiatry: Psychiatrist ignores patient's suicide

September 1, 2011

  

Relatives of Su Xiuyun watch the monitoring video and identify the doctor on duty at the Fukang Psychological Hospital in Shenyang, northeast China's Liaoning province on Wednesday afternoon, August 31, 2011. [Photo: www.nen.com.cn]

A 66-year-old woman with a history of mental illness committed suicide early on Wednesday morning at the Fukang Psychiatric Hospital in Shenyang, in northeast China's Liaoning province, while a doctor on duty who witnessed the suicide failed to take any measures to save the patient's life, "www.nen.com.cn" reports.

Su Xiuyun, a patient who had been suffering from psychological disorders for about 30 years, hung herself after only one day in hospital. During the suicide process which took more than ten minutes, the doctor on duty walked by twice but ignored the patient and left her hanging by the doorframe. Instead he simply registered his fingerprint to record the time when he was on patrol.

The whole process was recorded by a monitoring video. The daughter of Su Xiuyun surnamed Li expressed her anger at the doctor's ignorance after watching the video.

"Su never attempted suicide when she was taken care of at home," said her daughter. She also said that her mother was in good condition when Li left at dinner time.

Su's son insisted that the doctor on duty must bear the legal liability and refused the 50,000 yuan compensation which was offered by the hospital.

The hospital failed to explain why the doctor did not rescue the patient. The doctor is now under police investigation.

Source: "Doctor Disregards Psychiatric Patient's Suicide," CRIENGLISH.com, September 1, 2011.