Surgeons (外科风云)

Sir Xiu.

I remember the first day I came to Renhe

you guided me through pledging the Hippocratic oath.

The first phrase was

"To hold my teacher in this art equal to my own parents."

But also stated later in the oath is

"I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it"

"nor will I make a suggestion to this effect."

"In purity and holiness, I will guard my life and my art."

These pledges have resounded through my heart all this time.

But since that day 30 years ago

they have pricked my conscience at all moments.

In truth, I am...

unworthy of being a doctor.

June 3, 1984.

That was the day Xiu Min Qi and I

were afraid of being held responsible

for Lu Zhong He's death by a lidocaine allergy.

We coerced the pharmacy manager Cao Guang Yi

into forging a drug dispensing log

and changed lidocaine into penicillin.

We pushed the blame of this entire incident

onto nurse Zhang Shu Mei.

The investigative team believed her to be

the sole person responsible for this medical accident.

Later on, Zhang Shu Mei continually appealed

but Xiu Min Qi and I never revealed the truth.

Cao Guang Yi also resigned and left the country many years ago.

In the end, Zhang Shu Mei lost her mind

and committed suicide.

Now...

I am speaking up about this past event in front of all of my colleagues at Renhe

because I cannot convince my conscience

or deceive the eyes of those who witnessed the truth.

I also cannot face

the children who survived that incident.

This is the real drug dispensing log.

What is written on here

is completely different from that of the evidence in the archives.

It clearly states the drug Zhang Shu Mei withdrew from the pharmacy

was lidocaine, not penicillin.

On that night 30 years ago, when Zhang Shu Mei left Renhe

she was in such great despair.

Sir Xiu.

We must not continue making mistakes.

Bo Wen.

I don't understand...

This incident...

Where should I start?

30 years ago, Zhang Shu Mei withdrew penicillin from the pharmacy

and administered the shot to patient Lu Zhong He

triggering his allergic reaction and death.

The original medical records, prescriptions

surgical reports, and drug dispensing log are all sealed in the archives.

With verification by an investigative team

the facts are clear regarding this medical incident.

The evidence was authentic and complete.

Our hospital was definitive and precise.

Appropriate punishment was dealt, and procedures were lawful.

The leaders of Renhe at the time felt Zhang Shu Mei had always been dutiful

and this incident was just a mistake.

Other than recording a major demerit

she was transferred to a job post at the library.

However, Zhang Shu Mei refused to acknowledge her mistake

and continuously claimed she was framed.

Hence, she disobeyed her discipline

quit her job, and appealed everywhere

until she was later advised to leave.

Such a simple and clear medical incident

is brought back up today.

Was this necessary?

At the time, resident physician Zhong Xi Bei claimed

he saw Zhang Shu Mei extract a liquid dose, not powder.

But after an investigation at the scene

there was no ampoule containing liquid lidocaine in Lu Zhong He's room.

There was only a used vial of penicillin.

His testimony alone cannot be verified as trustworthy.

So...

Chen Xi, you just said

your father was severely allergic to penicillin

and you therefore inferred that he was allergic to lidocaine.

Okay, I can understand.

But thus concluding that Zhang Shu Mei's reasoning for appeal was sound?

Those two are not connected at all.

Taking a step back

even if your father truly was allergic to lidocaine

it would still be unrelated to this case.

Because he was not injected with lidocaine, but penicillin.

What else is there?

Drug dispensing log?

Here, let me take a look.

Let me see.

I remember I just said

the case's original materials

were determined by the investigative team to be authentic

and were not suspected to have been tampered with or forged.

After 30 years, you suddenly come up with this dispensing log.

And the one whose signature is on here, Zhang Shu Mei, has been dead many years.

Cao Guang Yi's whereabouts are unknown.

So who can prove whether the dispensing log in the archives is real

or if this one is?

What else is there?

Over four months ago

Zhang Shu Mei's son, Xiao Bin, now called Zhuang Shu

accepted a job here at Renhe to practice and teach medicine.

He found Zhong Xi Bei.

But just like in the present moment

he did not have strong evidence to overthrow past investigative results.

He merely requested that we

in good conscience as doctors

could speak the truth about the past.

Yet we were unable to let go of our reputations and statuses

and refused him.

In the end, Zhuang Shu developed depression and left China.

Sir Xiu.

I lied to the media about

a lung transplantation that was the center of attention.

Strictly speaking, it was scientific fraud.

While I was director, I hid my drug and alcohol addictions.

It nearly cost me a fatal mistake during the surgery.

I have retired early.

Reputation and status... I have none to speak of anymore.

Why do you think I would want to

and why would I need to stand here and frame you?

This affair from the past...

The facts are clear.

A verdict has already been determined.

There are no so-called doubts or new evidence

worthy to counter this verdict.

Even if anybody has any more relevant clues

I hope they will make this known through normal means.

Not by appearing like this

with behavior that is harmful to Renhe Hospital's reputation.

It was such a simple medical incident, a...

tragedy that shouldn't have happened.

What should it inspire in me and all colleagues at Renhe?

I think it should be to recollect a bitter lesson

to face problems directly and to respect science.

And not framing and denouncing each other in a setting like this.

You come questioning me about this today.

I can tell you all...

I, Xiu Min Qi, have practiced medicine for over 50 years.

I have never betrayed my conscience as a doctor.

I am done speaking.

Xiu Min Qi!

He saved your daughter!

- Director Yang. - Hello.

The phone you're dialing is turned off.

Director Yang, this is...

Director Yang, the meeting has ended, I presume.

We are from National Health Commission's discipline inspection committee.

Today, I'd like to get an understanding of the issue

of Renhe Hospital's purchases of medical devices.

Which batch of devices would that be?

From Xian Feng Company.

You are familiar with them, I presume?

Yes, very familiar.

You came, Director Fu. Sir Xiu is inside.

My teacher.

Back then

chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was long ranked as

one of the top five causes of death.

No matter how hard we tried

patients would slowly deteriorate and die.

It seemed apart from a transplant

there was no other way to save their lives.

As a thoracic surgeon, I was not resigned to fate.

Since kidneys, livers, intestines, and bone marrow could all be transplanted

then for what reason was

the thoracic surgery field holding back from lung transplants?

In 1979, a Beijing team successfully completed the first lung transplant.

Although the case was later eliminated

because the patient died of infection after surgery

I saw hope.

Since the surgery can be successfully done

and the patient can live for months after surgery, then that proves

we were heading in the right direction.

The highest peak of thoracic surgery, the lung transplant, can be overcome.

All right.

In the next five years

I never gave up on applications and research for lung transplants.

Finally, my team passed the reviews.

The precious approval for developing a lung transplant project was issued.

Which year was it?

1984.

As it so happened, at that time, Lu Zhong He died.

He died from a mishap that had nothing to do with us.

He died from...

lidocaine that none of us knew could be fatal.

Yes, it had nothing to do with medical negligence.

If going by the standards of an ordinary doctor

we did nothing wrong.

But back then, the lung transplant project

was the most cutting-edge research.

It needed to be carried out by the most exceptional experts.

Would a doctor who administered lidocaine to a patient, causing his death

be the most exceptional expert?

Above all, the chief of Major Surgery and the hospital director

were all not specialists.

Would they understand this difference?