Three detained for causing nurse's miscarriage in SW China

CHENGDU - In the latest case that strained doctor-patient relations in China, three men have been detained for beating a pregnant nurse and causing her to miscarry in a southwest China county.

According to the public security bureau of Gulin county, Sichuan province, the three drunk men had a scuffle with a nurse surnamed Wang in Gulin People's Hospital, when they sought medical treatment there on the night of Jan. 14. They then beat Wang, who was two months into her pregnancy.

After causing her miscarriage, one of the men reportedly told Wang that he is "rich enough to pay Wang's medical bills", according to the Sichuan News. Police later said that of the three suspects, two were detained on the spot, while another fled.

In what appears to be a still from a video footage of the hospital's surveillance camera, the men could be seen hitting someone in a chaotic scene. Pictures published by the Sichuan News show the nurse quietly lying in a sickbed.

On Friday night, the bureau announced on microblog Sina Weibo that the man at large has been caught, and that further investigation into the case is under way.

The case has caused a wave of condemnation among government authorities and netizens. Also on Friday, Huang Ming, deputy head of the Ministry of Public Security, demanded the Sichuan public security department investigate the case and punish anyone responsible.

Outraged netizens lashed out at the suspects, saying that hospitals should set up a blacklist for those who violate laws and regulations.

"These people should be severely punished," read one comment on Weibo.

In China, doctor-patient relations have been intense, as frustration, misunderstandings and dissatisfaction have resulted in common violence.

In 2014, two government officials were punished for an attack on a nurse at Nanjing Stomatological Hospital in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province. In the same year, a doctor from northeast China's Heilongjiang Province was beaten to death by a patient.