A group of medical staff, including Shanghai expert Dr. Zheng Minhua, boldly criticized the centralized procurement policy of the Chinese National Medical Insurance Bureau, which not only won praise from the public but also forced the Medical Insurance Bureau to make some compromises. Shanghai hospitals were notified that they can continue to prescribe original hypertension medications.
A female doctor from Huashan Hospital in Shanghai, who goes by the online name Snow, revealed on social media that experts from the National Medical Insurance Bureau visited Shanghai on January 20 to listen to Shanghai experts’ opinions on the centralized procurement policy and quality of medications.
Among the attending experts was Dr. Zheng Minhua, Chief of General Surgery at Ruijin Hospital in Shanghai.
The female doctor expressed admiration, saying, “Professor Zheng has a sense of responsibility and daring spirit of the times, being able to boldly say: ‘Anesthetic doesn’t numb, laxatives don’t work, blood pressure medications don’t lower, and blood sugar medications don’t decrease,’ I think he said it very well.”
Dr. Zheng expressed similar views in an interview with mainland media, stating, “Previously, using joint venture or imported anesthetics, the time could be precisely calculated, but now it’s not possible. Originally, one dose of anesthetic could make the patient ‘sleep’, but now three or four doses are needed.”
Netizens from across the country left comments on the doctor’s video review section, with many thanking Dr. Zheng for speaking up for the people and confirming his statements.
A netizen from Zhejiang said, “My father’s high blood pressure and high blood sugar couldn’t be controlled and even increased. It was only after switching back to the original medication that they were lowered. Alas, what can ordinary people do! Thank you, Dr. Zheng, for voicing the helplessness of the common people.”
A Shanghai netizen also remarked, “My dad is the same. Many hospitals don’t prescribe imported medications anymore.”
A person from Beijing named Niu expressed gratitude for speaking up for the vast number of patients, sharing their own struggles with blood pressure not decreasing even after heart stent surgery. The new blood pressure medication had no effect and neither did the medication to reduce blood lipids, despite being careful with diet. Tests showed blood lipids were not decreasing but rising, which was terrifying.
A patient from Jiangsu cited their own experience, saying, “Dizziness previously improved with just one bottle of medicine, but now, after two days of treatment, it’s not effective, so I had to switch to traditional Chinese medicine.”
A blunt comment came from Xiaofang in Liaoning, saying, “Centralized procurement reduced costs but also compromised quality. Although prices went down, the effectiveness of the medications decreased.”
A netizen from Guangdong pointed out, “Regardless of how medications are procured, they must be genuinely effective!”
A supporter from Sichuan insisted, “Ordinary people must also speak up for themselves. If everyone prioritizes self-preservation, the next one to fall will be oneself.”
In her video, the female doctor explained, “It’s not just a problem with the specific medication, it’s also about impurities as I mentioned before, it’s about your production process, you didn’t go that far because everyone needs to control costs.”
She emphasized, “Today, I see many experts saying we cannot limit the choices of the people to one channel only; you have to provide them with multiple channels, centralized procurement, cost reductions. Hopefully, more people can enjoy basic medical care, which is fine because everyone supports it, but there shouldn’t be just one channel, which is coercion.”
She further elaborated, stating that as a patient, if you have the need, you must buy it, or else, you won’t get it; otherwise, you’ll have to rely on the established system, which means you won’t be able to spend that money from your personal medical insurance account. If your personal insurance account can’t cover it, then you have to pay out of pocket. I think there’s no problem with this, but you must provide others with such a choice, especially for our patients.”
The doctor titled her video “A Doctor’s Duty is to be Responsible,” quoting a saying from Socrates, “In the doctor’s oath, the doctor has a heart of compassion, showing sympathy for all. Because we must heal, because of our respect for life, doctors have the most compassionate hearts and are the most willing to speak the truth.”
She stressed that facing such a societal phenomenon, social system, or government measures, doctors are willing to speak out for everyone’s suffering, hoping that through reasonable and effective feedback and different voices from patients, from large hospitals, small hospitals, community hospitals, and rural hospitals, all doctors can voice their concerns.
According to a report from Netease’s WeChat official account “Wind Observation” on January 24, after Professor Zheng, more than twenty medical staff bravely spoke out, reflecting issues with the quality of medications and medical equipment in centralized procurement. Subsequently, Shanghai hospitals received a notification that they can prescribe original hypertension medications again!
Unfortunately, on January 22, Professor Zheng’s Weibo account was terminated.