“Dr. Ai Fen, one of the first two whistle blowers to expose the epidemic, has lost the sight in his right eye due to delayed treatment by quack doctors, and is now unable to work (Photo credit: Ai Fen Weibo)
On the first anniversary of the outbreak, Dr. Ai Fen, one of the first two whistleblowers to expose the outbreak, is suspected to have lost his eyesight due to long-term goggle wear and delayed treatment by quack doctors, resulting in blindness in his right eye, and is now unable to work. The other whistle blower, Dr. Li Wenliang, has passed away.
Ai Fen, 46, was the director of the emergency department of Wuhan Central Hospital and a professor of medicine. On December 30 last year, Ai Fen sent out a test report in the department’s WeChat group, showing that a patient had tested highly positive for SARS coronavirus and other indicators. That afternoon, the test report was forwarded by Li Wenliang to his classmates’ WeChat group, and was subsequently forwarded in large numbers. Eight doctors, including Li Wenliang, were then admonished, while Ai Fen continued to be suppressed by the authorities.
Radio Free Asia recently tried to contact Ai Fen, who said she was not available to talk, but confirmed that she had indeed lost the sight in her right eye due to a misdiagnosis and was now unable to work.
Dr. Ai Fen, the “whistle blower”, has been unable to work due to the delayed treatment of her eye disease by quack doctors. The picture shows an old photo of Dr. Effen. (Ai Fen’s microblog)
The company’s main business is to provide a wide range of products and services to the public. The company’s first-ever “IOL” surgery was carried out on May 22, after she paid 29,000 yuan for the surgery.
Ai Fen said, but in June, she did not see any improvement in her right eye vision and went to Aier Eye for a review. Wang Yong believes that this is a normal phenomenon, after a period of time will be restored. However, her vision did not improve until October, so she went to a hospital in Wuhan, where she worked, for a checkup.
According to the medical records of a hospital in Wuhan, Ai Fen had a retinal detachment of pore origin in her right eye, with a grayish-white bulge and refractive error (high myopia in the right eye). A number of ophthalmologists told Ai Fen that the deterioration of the fundus after degeneration was the main cause of the aforementioned symptoms, and that the condition might not be so serious if it was detected and treated with laser early; it was a routine operation that the fundus should be checked for degeneration before doing IOL implantation.
On Dec. 29, Fen asked Wang Yong, vice president of Wuhan Aier Eye Hospital, over the phone, “Before doing IOL implantation, you should check whether the fundus is degenerative before deciding whether to perform the surgery, which is a common sense that ophthalmologists should have. However, you did not check the fundus and then did the IOL implantation, which delayed the treatment time. I now have retinal detachment and can only feel light in my right eye, should you be held responsible?”
Wang Yong, for his part, expressed deep regret. He said, “The fundus was checked before the surgery, but the check was not thorough enough to detect the degeneration of the fundus, and he was willing to resolve it through friendly negotiation.”
So far still suppressing whistle blowers
A source within the Hubei Provincial health Care Commission system told Radio Free Asia that Li Wenliang’s relatives and Ai Fen are still under surveillance by the authorities, and Li Wenliang’s widow has returned to live in her hometown with her 2 children, while Li Wenliang’s parents are still unable to get over their trauma, but they are now officially prohibited from speaking out.
The source also revealed that on the morning of December 30, a public number called “Erxiang” published an article about the first anniversary of Li Wenliang’s whistle blowing, which drew the attention of the officials and started a full-scale pressure and stability maintenance. Ai Fen was also warned and threatened by Wang Weihua, the Party Secretary of Wuhan Central Hospital, who took office in August this year, for receiving media interviews, asking her not to speak out and even asking her to delete the article.
Dr. Ai Fen, the whistle blower. (Web composite image)
On the 31st, Dr. Ai Fen explained in her microblog why she had to seek media exposure for two reasons.
- She had seen the photo of her pre-surgery crystal with her own eyes during the follow-up consultation in June. Originally, she only had a mild cataract, but the other party sent her a photo of a very serious cataract lesion, which was obviously a falsification.
- As a medical worker, they can do this to her, and if it’s the people, they are more likely to be cheated, “If I don’t come out to speak, even more no one will come out to speak!”
Dr. Ai Fen microblogging about the original reason. (Effen’s microblog)
However, this microblog has been deleted, and there is still a video recorded by Dr. Ai Fen herself, in which she tells that the first time she called Aier Eye Hospital, the other party asked her to change the crystal without seeing her in person and without conducting any examination on her.
Dr. Ai Fen questions Aier Eye in the video. (Screenshot from Weibo video)
In addition, Ai Fen said, “(hand) before the operation, has suggested that there is a problem with the examination, they ignore, (hand) after the operation, the patient reported that the vision is very dim, they also do not cause attention, and when I occurred after the retinal detachment, push me to another hospital, want me to go back to their own hospital to do surgery. Instead of giving me pre-operative information, they gave me some false information.”
“Aier Eye has lied to Dr. Affin, is there any guarantee for the people to see a doctor?”
The news of Dr. Ai Fen’s right eye blindness quickly sparked online attention, as Ai Fen questioned in the microblogging: she as a medical worker, they can do this, if the people are more likely to be cheated.
The online voice questioned: “Aier Eye has cheated Dr. Ai Fen, the people to see the doctor there is a guarantee?”
With more than 600 ophthalmology hospitals and centers in the country, Aier Eye has always been favored by the capital market. Since August 2020, Aier Eye’s share price has been soaring, from 44.01 yuan/share to more than 70 yuan/share. As of press time, the total market value of Aier Ophthalmology is 305.322 billion yuan.
The high valuation also gave Aier Ophthalmology to provide rapid expansion capital, so that the secretary of Aier Ophthalmology proud of the “6000 doctors”. However, in recent years, complaints about Aier Ophthalmology have been appearing online, including “poor service”, “no refund even if not used”, “delayed treatment time”, “false propaganda”, etc. The “false propaganda” and so on.
In addition to this Wuhan Aier Eye incident, similar incidents have occurred at Shenyang Aier Eye Hospital.
In April 2020, the complainant “Sun Xiaoyu” said in the complaint platform that his grandmother spent 14,942 yuan in Shenyang Aier Eye Hospital to receive surgery to replace the crystal, but three months after the replacement of the crystal, his grandmother’s eyesight not only did not improve a little, but also aggravated the original situation.
In this regard, Aier Eye Hospital informed that it still needs to continue to receive treatment, which will probably still cost 20,000 yuan. This explanation caused dissatisfaction among the young Sun, who thought, “This is fraud, because the previous promise to change a crystal can improve vision, and now continue to spend money.”
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