Chinese doctors who practice traditional medicine have lost prestige in Vietnamese patients’ eyes, Dr. Nguyen Hoang Son, deputy head of the Traditional Medicine and Pharmaceutical Department under the Ministry of Heath, has said.

>> Vietnam woman narrowly cheats death following Chinese doctor-administered abortion Dr. Son made the statement in an interview with Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper about the operation of clinics employing Chinese doctors after a woman narrowly escaped death undergoing a botched abortion performed by a Chinese doctor at a private clinic in Ho Chi Minh City earlier this month. “There are 25 Chinese doctors who have registered for practicing in the field of traditional medicine and pharmacy in Vietnam, but now only two of them continue their work – one in Hanoi and the other in Ho Chi Minh City,” Dr. Son said. He said most of these Chinese doctors have returned to China as the Chinese traditional medicine has lost its reputation in the Southeast Asian country. “Some Chinese doctors told me cases in which patients arrived at their clinics and asked whether the practitioners are Chinese or Vietnamese. They later left, knowing that they would be examined and treated by Chinese doctors,” Son said.

This file photo shows a guard at the Maria General Clinic telling visitors that the clinic was suspended after the death of a patient there on July 14, 2012. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Four reasons  When asked why Chinese doctors have lost their prestige in Vietnam, Dr. Son answered there are four causes. Firstly, many Chinese health workers have arrived in Vietnam for work when they have yet to obtain a practitioner’s license. When their clinics were inspected, these Chinese doctors tried to hide themselves everywhere, even in a toilet. Such cases have been covered by local media, Dr. Son said. Secondly, Chinese clinics often exaggerate their medical expertise in their advertisements. Thirdly, Chinese doctors charge patients much more than Vietnamese doctors do for the same treatment, whereas the efficiency of their treatment is lower or only equal to that by their Vietnamese counterparts. Lastly, Chinese doctors often give patients prescriptions for medicines of unclear origin, even those without registration for use in Vietnam, Dr. Son said.Qualifications in doubt Regarding the professional qualifications of Chinese doctors in Vietnam, Dr. Son said most of them are not highly qualified. “If they were actually skilled, they would have a good job at home and thus would not have to practice abroad,” the doctor commented.

The front area of the Quoc Te [International] General Clinic, at 221 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Most Chinese traditional medicine doctors who have registered for practicing in Vietnam have returned home after they had lost credibility and suffered heavy penalties, Dr. Son said, noting that more and more Chinese doctors have switched to Western medicine recently. He said that a Chinese doctor practicing Western medicine has lately caused a life-threatening complication to a Vietnamese woman. Dr. Son referred to 48-year-old M.T.M, who was taken to the Tu Du Obstetrics Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City on April 10 after she experienced a painful, failed abortion at the Quoc Te [International] General Clinic, located at 221 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street, District 1, the same day.  Doctors at Tu Du said M. suffered a serious post-abortion complication and she had to undergo emergency surgery to survive.

During the surgery, doctors detected about 500ml of blood in her abdomen, while finding some holes in her uterus and the fetus cut horizontally.

The woman would have died if she had been hospitalized later that day, he added. As shown in its license, the clinic is not allowed to perform abortions, said Dr. Bui Minh Trang, chief inspector of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health.

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