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Medical bill runs high for H1N1 patient

(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-08-17 12:10

The medical bills for one of the mainland's most serious H1N1 patients are averaging nearly 10,000 RMB (US$1,462) per day - a cost his relatives say they can barely afford, the Beijing News reported Monday.

The patient, a 17-year-old student surnamed Qiu, was reportedly still in a coma last Friday and has been closely monitored at the intensive care unit of the Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Disease.

The medical bills for August 10th and 11th were about 4,016 RMB (US$587) each day, and additional hospital expenses have totaled 56,000 RMB (US$8,187) since Qiu was first taken to the hospital on August 6, the hospital said.

Qiu moved to Guangzhou with his family from another city in Guangdong province in 2005. The six members of his family have been living in a 50-square-meter basement there.

His father was diagnosed diabetes eight years ago and his 80-year-old grandmother is bed-bound because of a recent paralyzing fall.