On May 16, a netizen posted a video claiming that a woman was forcibly taken away by medical personnel from the Yuzhou City Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital in handcuffs on the street, shouting for help. Netizens questioned if the woman might be “mentally ill”, sparking public attention.
The video showed the woman’s hands cuffed behind her back, being carried on a stretcher by 4 emergency medical personnel as she resisted vigorously. She loudly declared her name to passersby for help, saying: “My name is Li Jianqing (phonetic), I am perfectly normal, clear-minded, and healthy. Why would a hospital handcuff me? Please help me, I beg you.”
A passerby captured the process on video and questioned, “She says she’s not sick, so why handcuff her?” The back of a medical worker’s clothing in the video had “Henan Emergency” written on it.
According to the passerby, the woman was carried out of a hotel. He was afraid of being taken away by the emergency services as well, so he left without reporting to the police.
The video quickly gained attention online. Many netizens expressed surprise, “Is it this extreme now? Hospitals using handcuffs.” “Just by saying someone has a mental illness, they get taken away, it’s terrifying.” “Being in this hospital is worse than being in jail.” “In their eyes, everyone is a mental patient, except for the privileged few.” “Lawless.”
Some netizens also questioned, “Where did the medical personnel get handcuffs?” “Handcuffs are police equipment, shouldn’t be casually possessed and used, right?” “She wasn’t carrying any weapons, so why did so many staff members restrain her?” “This is like a successful organ matching.”
The topic of “A hospital in Henan suspected of using handcuffs to control a woman” quickly climbed the hot search list on Weibo that night, remaining there for over 10 hours.
After the incident garnered attention, mainland media outlet “First Scene” contacted the Yuzhou City Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital. A psychiatric staff member responded, “The family asked us to pick her up, she was quite agitated at the time, so we used psychiatric restraint straps, not handcuffs.” The staff at the Yuzhou City Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital’s 120 emergency center stated, “This person is a mental patient and has manic-depressive disorder.”
The responses sparked criticism from netizens, “The hospital personnel are really talking nonsense.” “If the family asked you to pick her up and it escalated to this, why wasn’t the family accompanying her? Doesn’t that make sense?” “Restraint straps are made of fabric material, they never have metal, so this is a ‘golden handcuff’.” “Nice wording, handcuffs now have a new name: restraint straps.”
On May 17, Red Star News reported that the Yuzhou City Health and Family Planning Commission responded, stating that the hospital involved had suspended the doctor on duty, Xie, and dismissed the employee, Gao. Further investigation and actions will be taken.