Medical ethics and responsibility

At the Central Highlands General Hospital, the laser kidney stone treatment machine has been broken for nearly two years, but the records still record nearly 500 cases that have undergone this technique. The incident quickly attracted public attention, raising many concerns about transparency in records management, medical standards and supervisory responsibilities in the public health system.

Doctor checks patient's health. Illustration photo

If the device is broken, the question is how could there be hundreds of recorded surgeries? This raises two important issues. First, technical and patient safety. If the device is not actually working but the records still show its use, it means that the patient may have been prescribed the wrong method, missed the opportunity for timely intervention or had to undergo unnecessary procedures.

Second, from an ethical and legal perspective, the act of falsely declaring records for payment from the health insurance fund, if determined to be intentional, is no longer a professional error but an act of profiteering, even potentially a violation of the law. This is what causes outrage in society, because it is directly related to fairness and safety in people's health care.

In any medical facility, the first responsibility belongs to the leadership. The machine has been broken for nearly two years, hundreds of procedure records are still signed, approved and paid. If you say “don’t know”, it is lax management, if you “know but let it be” it is tolerance. The Ministry of Health has directed, the police are investigating, but the people need more than an “admission of responsibility”, that is the conclusion of the inspection and public disciplinary action.

This incident also revealed major loopholes in the public health system. These include lax equipment management, lack of operating logs and regular monitoring; lack of cross-verification in consultation and procedure approval processes; and the insurance payment mechanism being easily exploited when “upgrading” services to enjoy higher payments.

In terms of professional ethics, the above behavior causes patients to lose trust. Physicians are given the right by society to directly intervene in the human body; that right is associated with the highest responsibility to protect the patient's health. When financial interests overwhelm ethics, the consequences are not just health damage or numbers in reports, but long-term damage to both health and trust.

The incident at the Central Highlands General Hospital has not only directly affected the treatment of hundreds of patients, but also created a crisis of confidence in the public health system. Patients, instead of trusting their lives, live in fear of becoming “victims” of vested interests. Once medical ethics are eroded, no technology or management mechanism can compensate.

Therefore, rectifying discipline and restoring medical ethics on the basis of transparency and humanity is an urgent requirement, so that each hospital can return to its mission of saving lives.

Source: https://baothainguyen.vn/tin-moi/202509/y-duc-va-trach-nhiem-05756e6/