A Vietnamese woman has escaped death by inches after suffering a severe complication from a botched abortion performed by a Chinese doctor at a private clinic unlicensed to conduct such surgery in Ho Chi Minh City.

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Doctors at Tu Du said M. suffered a serious post-abortion complication and she had to undergo emergency surgery to survive, said Dr. Tran Ngoc Hai, head of the hospital’s General Planning Department. During the surgery, doctors detected about 500ml of blood in her abdomen, while finding some holes in her uterus and the fetus cut horizontally, Dr. Hai said. The woman would have died if she had been hospitalized later that day, he added. Yesterday M., hailing from the southern province of Binh Duong, remained at Tu Du for continued treatment. She told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that she came to the Quoc Te General Clinic at 8:00 am on April 10 to abort her 16-17 week fetus. M. said she met a Chinese female doctor, Lian Xing Fang, who agreed to help her abolish the fetus without asking for any documents proving her health conditions. The Chinese doctor administered to her a kind of medication to facilitate the removal of the fetus from the womb, but in the afternoon she still failed to eject the baby. The doctor then used a tool to attempt to suck the fetus out but she failed again, while M. was suffering great pain. “I felt a terrible pain as if someone were trying to extract my internal organs,” M. said. As M.’s health condition got worse, the clinic transferred her to Tu Du for emergency aid, the victim said.

An inspector of the Ho Chi Minh Health Department (standing, R) is seen during an inspection at the Quoc Te General Clinic on April 15, 2015. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Doctor suspended On April 13, Quang Phung Linh, administrative manager at the Quoc Te General Clinic, said that after the incident, the clinic convened a meeting to review M.’s case and concluded that Dr. Fang had committed many wrongdoings. She violated the regulations on medical examinations and treatment of both the Health Ministry and the clinic, according to what was concluded at the meeting. She provided the abortion service for M. without reporting to and getting approval from the clinic’s medical manager and management board. The clinic, therefore, decided to suspend Dr. Fang until April 30, pending further investigation into her acts, Linh said. Linh added the clinic and M. have agreed to compensation the former will give the latter.Unauthorized abortion  The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health on Wednesday sent an inspection team led by Pham Kim Binh, its deputy chief inspector, to the clinic to deal with M.’s case. The team asked the facility to report in detail about the abortion process that had led to the serious complication. It invited the clinic owner and its medical manager, Dr. Dinh Khac Hieu, to attend another meeting at the office of the health department’s Inspectorate on Friday, April 17, to arrive at an official conclusion. The team also requested the clinic to show the practitioner’s certificates of all doctors at the facility at the forthcoming meeting. As shown in its license, the clinic can offer examinations and treatment of gynecological diseases, pregnancy examinations and monitoring, and other medical services, but it is not allowed to perform abortions, said Dr. Bui Minh Trang, chief inspector of the health department.

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