A recent homicide in a Beijing hospital has drawn indignation and condemnation from medical professionals and the general public. It also sparked heated discussions in China — again — on how to stop violence against healthcare workers.  

Doctor Yang Wen, who worked in the emergency department at Civil Aviation General Hospital, was stabbed by a patient's family member on December 24 and died the next morning. 

Sun Wenbin was arrested on charges intentional homicide on last Friday. Police say the alleged attacker held grudge against the hospital on a personal presumption that doctors prescribed the wrong medicine to his 95-year-old mother.

The relationship between doctors and patients in China has been repeatedly smeared by disputes and outbursts of assaults verbally and physically against medical workers. Media reported at least 12 violent incidents last year involving medical workers, including two deaths. 

Abuse against medical staff in China has caught the attention of policy-makers. Six years ago, China’s health and public security authorities issued an advisory on safety measures designed to reduce conflicts in the doctor-patient relationship, which includes more security staff to be deployed in hospitals and the establishment of an appropriate in-house procedure that allows patients to express discontent and give advice. 

China’s top legislature took a step further on Saturday. It voted to adopt a specific law on the promotion of basic medical and health care, including an article stating that any individual or organization is prohibited from threatening or harming the personal safety of medical staff, or violating their dignity.

The newly adopted law has ensured medical staff’s personal safety and dignity from the legislative level. It clarifies the legal responsibilities and penalties for violence against medical personnel, and calls for people in all walks of life to care about and respect medical staff.

It’s a common challenge to annihilate violence against doctors that needs not only the power of government measures and laws, but also the joint efforts of every member of the society.

Patients need to be more rational and aware that modern medicine is not one hundred percent effective in all cases and diseases. Especially when it comes to serious illnesses, patients and their relatives should lower their expectations accordingly and try to understand and accept the situation.

More importantly, it is necessary to always remember that doctors are human too. Their profession is already full of stress and carries huge responsibilities. What patients should do is follow their advice and be grateful. 

The case of Doctor Yang is not a medical dispute, but a serious crime. The killer bypassed existing dispute settlement mechanisms and took the life of an innocent person in a cruel way.  

It is necessary to distinguish disputes over medical treatment from intentional crimes, and not to forget that killing doctors is a criminal offense, and the criminal should be punished.

Any civilized society should have “zero tolerance” for heinous violence, and it is a duty for people of all walks of life to safeguard civilization and the rule of law.