In this Oct. 9, 2010 photo, patient Qu Binbin in a wheelchair, right, argue with a supporter, left, of Dr. Xiao Chuanguo outside a court house in Beijing, China. At one moment, the Chinese urologist seemed to be at the height of his career: He had invented a surgical procedure to help patients overcome incontinence and was training doctors in America and elsewhere. The next, Dr. Xiao Chuanguo was in handcuffs, confessing that he'd hired thugs in China to attack two persistent critics who called him a fraud. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)(Andy Wong - AP)
原文
Patients protest Chinese doctor's risky surgery
The stakes are high for Xiao, who once told reporters his procedure should win him a Nobel Prize and has said that becoming a target of the two Fangs cost him a seat in the prestigious Chinese Academy of Sciences.
In June, two men attacked the journalist Fang with metal pipes, leaving a deep gash on his head. Two months later, the other Fang was attacked with a chemical spray and a hammer, escaping with minor injuries.
Police arrested Xiao after he returned from training doctors in Argentina. In a videotaped interrogation, the doctor said he paid a distant relative 100,000 yuan ($15,000) to hire two men "just to give them black eyes and swollen faces ... but not to do any permanent damage.
"Nothing else would solve the problem except beating him up," he said, referring to Fang Shimin, the reporter.
Half a dozen patients and family members protested outside his trial, saying they represented 200 patients who were duped by Xiao into thinking the 30,000 yuan ($4,500) procedure had an 85 percent success rate.
"We need an explanation. We need justice," said Qu Binbin, a 29-year-old man in a wheelchair who said he was able to get around without crutches before having the surgery three years ago.
Supporters of the doctor also showed up. Guo Yuling, a 19-year-old college student, said he constantly wet his pants for the first 13 years of his life before Xiao's surgery.
Two former patients are suing Xiao for false advertisement, and more lawsuits are planned, said Peng Jian, a human rights lawyer who said he has documented 150 cases in which the surgery had no benefit or left patients worse off.
So far, the scandal has not derailed plans to continue studies in the U.S.
Researchers at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan, reported mixed results - and some side effects - from a pilot study of nine spina bifida patients. By early next year, they plan to begin a five-year clinical trial funded by $2.3 million from the National Institutes of Health.
Dr. Kenneth Peters, the hospital's head of urology, said he ensures that patients are fully aware the surgery is experimental and carries serious risks.
"Dr. Xiao has been nothing but in our experience an incredible gentleman, scientist and a very good colleague," said Peters, one of those who signed the letter in Xiao's support.
A separate three-year study on eight children is under way at All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida.
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Associated Press researcher Xi Yue contributed to this report.
美联社报道：患者抗议中国医生实施的风险手术专家们认为：手术有一定的前景，但现在美国进行的是少量病人实验，而且绝大数是儿童；专家对手术85%的成功率表示怀疑。
无论肖传国教授是否有作假或者临床实验中的伦理道德问题，该事件凸显了在中国实施临床实验中，缺乏管理，对于病人很少保护。
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