All medical waste requires proper disposal

JJ LIN, a Singaporean singer popular in China, caught a cold after a concert in Zhenjiang, East China's Jiangsu province, and sought help at a local hospital. After he left, a hospital staff member posted photos of Lin's perfusion tubes on the social media platform WeChat, and said he was auctioning them. China Daily writer Zhang Zhouxiang comments:

After the incident happened, the hospital issued a news release, saying it is "a misdeed committed by the hospital staff who are Lin's fans". The latest reports say that 11 members of staff were involved and they have all been suspended.

It should be noted that the involved staff have committed at least two wrongs: First, by posting photos of Lin's medical treatment on social media without his consent, they have violated his privacy. Everybody has the right to keep secret that he/she has seen a doctor, a celebrity is no exception.

Some might argue that Lin is a public figure and therefore his affairs are all public, but that is not the case, everyone has the right to privacy.

Second, by taking photos of Lin's used perfusion tubes, the involved hospital staff members have violated the regulation on medical disposables, which was passed by the State Council, China's Cabinet, in 2003. According to the regulation, all used medical disposables must be collected by professional agencies and destroyed in ways that do not contaminate the environment or harm other people's health.

Complying with the regulation is essential, because medical waste, if not properly disposed of, might pose a health risk. Especially, as the photo shows, the perfusion tubes collected by the involved medical staff contained the needle and even some blood from Lin.

In its news release, the involved hospital said that they had recovered all the related medical waste, which is good to know. Let's hope all medical staff learn a lesson from the incident, and prevent anything similar happening in the future.