(Singapore 05.06.2025) The death of a Chinese working in Singapore in Sanya (三亚) city of China’s Hainan province from a snake bite after four hours of futile treatment in two local hospitals has raised questions on the competency of the medical service involved and even whether China’s medical system is erratic, especially in the light of a case of a female economics graduate being appointed surgeon with inadequate training.
According to China’s Yangcheng Evening News daily, on June 1, Fu Qi (付淇) and her boyfriend, both in Sanya for holiday, were taking a walk along an urban road after dinner when the snake bit her. Sanya is a popular tourist city due to its beautiful coastlines.
Fu’s cousin surnamed Xu recounted to the media on June 4 that she first went to Sanya Central Hospital for treatment. Based on the look of the wound, the doctor who tended to the 27-year-old was not certain it was a snake bite and suspected the culprit might be something else. A blood test revealed that Fu’s platelet levels were abnormal. Meanwhile, she kept vomiting and felt dizzy. The doctor then gave Fu an anti-nausea injection, infused her with two bottles of saline, and prescribed some medications to address the symptoms.
“Three hours after, the hospital said it had no antivenom medication and declared they had no experience with cases like snake bite. Fu Qi was thus transferred to a military hospital, which put her in a normal ward instead of ICU,” added Mr Xu. “After all these hours of rescue efforts, sadly she passed away.”
Xu questioned whether the first hospital had wrongly delayed the treatment for three hours and suspects the rescue measures taken by the second hospital were inappropriate. He told reporters that Sanya’s Health Commission, which oversees the health matters of the whole city, has gathered provincial-level experts to review the diagnosis and treatment process and would answer the family within five days.
According to Zhang Liang (张亮), an expert on snakes from Guangdong province’s science academy, every year from May to November, snakes are active in China’s southern regions such as Guangdong and Hainan.
Xu shared that Fu Qi was raised by a single parent and had lived alone in China since her middle school years, China’s paper.com website reported. He described her as an independent woman and had self-taught her way into university. “She started working in Singapore as a nursery teacher two years ago, and was preparing for post-graduate studies.”
A netizen wrote on China’s wangyi.com news website: “This incident not only left Fu Qi’s kin heartbroken but also sparked a huge uproar online, prompting profound public reflection on China’s medical treatment and travel safety.”
“As a top-tier hospital of China, Sanya Central Hospital surprisingly did not have any stock of anti-snake venom serum. In the entire city of Sanya, only three hospitals have this medicine,” the netizen lamented.
According to the Chinese media, thousands of comments from tourists have flooded the official “Sanya Culture and Tourism” web site, with many expressing concerns about the safety of traveling in the city. There are reports that three families have withdrawn from their tour groups.
Another netizen asked sarcastically online: “”The doctors at Sanya Hospital probably studied economics or fine arts, right?” in reference to the so-called “4+4” case, which involves a woman surgeon Dong Xiying (董袭莹)of Beijing’s Peking Union Medical College Hospital （协和医院）, the most well-known hospital in China.
Dong, 27, earned her undergraduate degree in economics from US’ Barnard College and entered the medical field through a “recommendation system” in 2019 after returning to China. She was selected to join the “4+4 Clinical Medicine Pilot Programme” of Peking Union Medical College, which recruits medical students basing on the concept that doctors should possess broad knowledge beyond medicine.
However, in 2021, after only two years into studying medicine, Dong already participated as an intern in a thoracic surgery. Such surgery requires at least the title of a fully qualified doctor. This means Dong’s involvement seriously violated relevant regulations. She went on to have a hand in many surgeries. It was recently discovered that Dong’s parents have links to the hospital and she herself is in an adulterous relationship with a star surgeon of the institution.
Now all her medical certificates and permits are annulled.
