BEIJING (AP) Several hundred hospital workers in white coats and surgical masks staged a rare protest in eastern China against attacks on medical workers after a patient stabbed three of their doctors, killing one.
The staffers assembled Monday outside the Wenling City No. 1 People's Hospital hoisting signs that said "uphold justice" and "guarantee medical staffers' safety."
"We are still protesting and demanding that the government and the hospital management ensure the safety of the doctors," said a woman who refused to give her name when reached by phone at the facility's emergency department.
The protest came after a knife-wielding patient, who was being treated in the emergency department, stabbed the three doctors on Friday. Dr. Wang Yunjie died while the other two were wounded, Wenling police said.
Attacks on hospital staff by patients have becoming increasingly common in China and some health experts blame it on the commercialization of health services. "Once the medical system decides that its aim is to 'make money,' patients will not trust doctors anymore," said Liu Jitong, a public health expert at Peking University.
