Yesterday, representatives of concerned agencies met with the managers of the clinic, at 65-67 Thai Thinh Street, Dong Da District, to clarify details related to the death of the woman, who had received treatment at the clinic before she died.
The agencies include the Health Ministry’s Inspectorate, the ministry’s Examination and Treatment Management Department, the Traditional Medicine and Pharmacy Department, the Hanoi Health Department and local police.
At the meeting Ngo Doan Ha, director of An Thinh Consultancy and Investment JSC, the clinic’s investor, said that after being transfused with Levofloxaxin, a synthetic chemotherapeutic antibiotic, Phong suffered fatigue, developed rashes on her hands and arms, and had signs of shock due to the medicine.
Tran Quy Tuong, from the Examination and Treatment Management Department, said the clinic broke the law by using three Chinese “doctors” who have not been granted practitioner’s licenses to treat patients like Phong.
The clinic also violated relevant regulations since it had used the loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP), which it is not licensed to use, to treat Phong.
The three Chinese nationals, who are reported to be doctors, include Zhou Ji Anjao, male, 51, Deng Qin Zhi, female, 35, and Zhang Ling Gong, male, 27.
Hanoi police have banned them, along with 39-year-old Dong Chang Rui, who managed the clinic, from leaving Vietnam, since all the four fled after the incident.
Besides these people, the clinic had employed another Chinese national who has returned to China on annual leave.
After Phong’s death, the Hanoi Health Department suspended the clinic from July 16 pending investigation.
As earlier reported, Phong arrived at the clinic at about 6:50 pm last Saturday for examination as she felt unwell. Doctors at the clinic diagnosed Phong with cervicitis in cervical ectropion, vaginitis, and pelvic inflammatory disease.
They then performed a blood test, an electrocardiogram test and transfused five bottles of fluid into her body, along with several other procedures.
A couple of hours later, after paying a total of VND8,670,000 (US$416) to the clinic, Phong felt very fatigued and called home about her condition. But when her relatives came to the clinic, they couldn’t find any doctors, while Phong had died of unknown causes.