"Chinese doctors accused of wrongly diagnosing hundreds of workers with black lung disease", 23 Jun 2018

Three doctors [from Guizhou Aerospace Hospital in Zunyi, Guizhou province] have been detained for seven months…Police claim the three doctors diagnosed a number of patients with pneumoconiosis, who were later found not to have the disease when their cases were reassessed by other medical experts. The initial diagnoses cost 30 million yuan (US$4.62 million) in unnecessary public medical insurance payments according to police, MD Weekly reported on Tuesday. Pneumoconiosis is caused by long-term exposure to coal or other industrial dust, resulting in irreversible lung damage, and usually affects workers in mining and agriculture.

…But lawyers for the doctors denied any malpractice, saying they did not receive any money from their patients and had followed standard procedure to make the diagnoses, the report said…In February, more than 300 staff at the hospital signed a petition letter asking the local authorities to release their colleagues. “Please respect science and respect medicine and safeguard doctors’ legal rights,” the letter said…

Wang Keqin, founder of the Love Save Pneumoconiosis Foundation, an NGO that helps people with black lung disease, said many migrant workers with the illness did not get proper treatment or compensation because hospitals diagnosed them with other lung conditions…Wang said only 10 per cent of people with the disease in China had been diagnosed…“If they are convicted as criminals, what chance do migrant workers with black lung disease have?