Whom to Trust When Sick?

Abstract

A21 -year-old hardworking student from Xidian University in Xi'an, Wei Zexi MJffi, has been at the centre of public discussion since his death in April 2016. When diagnosed with end-stage synovial sarcoma back in 2014, Wei and his family searched for more information on ways to treat the seemingly incurable disease. Baidu, the largest Internet search engine in China, naturally became a useful channel for information. The family's search on Baidu linked them to the Second Hospital of Beijing Armed Police Corps, ranked a Grade A tertiary (sanji jiadeng ^^), the highest ranking in the Chinese hospital classification scheme. Wei and his family were assured by a doctor at the hospital that there was a very high chance of saving Wei's life after rounds of medical treatment called cellular immunotherapy. The doctor's indication of collaboration with Stanford University in the United States further raised the hope of Wei's family. However, the treatment also put the family in massive debt with its extraordinary cost. When Wei's medical condition deteriorated, the doctor in charge revoked his previous claims about the success rate of the treatment and was found to have lied about collaboration with the renowned university. Wei and his family felt deceived by the hospital as well as Baidu. Before his death, Wei posted a long article on the Internet in February 2016, blaming Baidu for doing evil with its information rank bidding service jingjia paiming%and expressing his grievance against the hospital and the doctor in charge without revealing their names.® When he passed away on 12 April, his tragic story stirred up a huge public outcry on media originating with the question-and-answer platform Zhihu £p^. Public concern over the death of Wei Zexi was enormous, with 370 million people having read about the case on the media platform Weibo as of 7 May.® Initially, heavy criticism was directed towards Baidu. State-run media such as People's Daily and China Daily criticised Baidu for a business model lacking in social responsibility and made a general call for improvements in state regulation.® Baidu's commercial competitors also joined this round of attack on Baidu.(4)The Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), however, soon caused the case to die down on 4 May by urging related media to delete posts that take the opportunity to attack the Party, the Government, the medical system, and the system. Some news articles covering the scandal about the military hospital could no longer be read from then on.®Meanwhile, various government departments took action to ease public discontent in early May. The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC), and State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) launched a joint investigation into Baidu on 2 May, followed by state directives demanding a re-organisation of Baidu's search page and modification of its information rank bidding service.®The NHFPC and Central Military Commission (CMC) also looked into the operation of the Second Hospital of Beijing Armed Police Corps on 3 May. All collaboration between military-operated hospitals and private medical companies was suspended. Several officials in the hospital were disciplined after publication of the investigation report.(7) There have also been calls for termination of paid services provided by the military.(8)Indeed, the Wei Zexi Incident combines a number of problems that have long existed with Baidu and healthcare reform in China. It ignited heated discussion amongst the general public and experts, notably on the circulation of online medical advertisements without proper regulation, the lack of transparency about the outsourcing of medical departments of military1. run hospitals to private medical companies, the quality of which is often in serious doubt, and the limits of the recent round of healthcare reform. …