Heartless

In the pantheon of unintended consequences, it has to rank as one of the stranger examples. Hospital bills in China can be huge, so it was a major boon when a man named Zhu was told that community leaders had agreed to pay his hospital expenses. However, 10 minutes after the Chongqing officials gave him the good news, a strange thing happened: he died from excitement. The 50 year-old, who suffered from hypertension and coronary heart disease, passed away in late 2007. Meanwhile his relatives brought a lawsuit against the hospital. According to the Chongqing Evening News, a local court has just awarded them damages of Rmb90,000 ($13,190), on the grounds that the hospital should have given Zhu drugs to control his anxiety.

© ChinTell Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sponsored by HSBC.

The Week in China website and the weekly magazine publications are owned and maintained by ChinTell Limited, Hong Kong. Neither HSBC nor any member of the HSBC group of companies ("HSBC") endorses the contents and/or is involved in selecting, creating or editing the contents of the Week in China website or the Week in China magazine. The views expressed in these publications are solely the views of ChinTell Limited and do not necessarily reflect the views or investment ideas of HSBC. No responsibility will therefore be assumed by HSBC for the contents of these publications or for the errors or omissions therein.