Ministry condemns knife attack on doctor

BEIJING - The Ministry of Health has strongly condemned the stabbing attack that severely injured a Beijing doctor on Thursday.

In a statement released on its website on Sunday, the ministry condemned the attack which took place at a hospital in the capital on Thursday.

Xu Wen, 43, a surgeon at the Beijing Tongren Hospital, was seriously injured on Thursday after a patient, identified as Wang Baoming, 54, attacked her with a knife at the hospital.

Police detained Wang shortly after the attack. Xu's life was not threatened by the injuries, the hospital said on Friday.

Minister of Health Chen Zhu and the ministry's Party secretary, Zhang Mao, were gravely concerned by the vicious incident, the statement said.

They strongly condemned the violent crime and expressed their sympathy to the injured doctor, according to the statement.

The ministry asked the bureau of health in Beijing to organize experts to treat the injured doctor, it added.

The ministry also asked the bureau to cooperate closely with relevant authorities to seriously punish the attacker, while saying the bureau should take measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.

The ministry stressed that health administrations and organizations at all levels should promote the building of safe hospitals and should protect the safety and rights of medical staff members and patients, said the statement.

Wang had undergone a throat operation at the hospital in October 2006, according to the statement. After leaving the hospital in late October 2006, he was readmitted to the hospital with breathing difficulties in July 2007. He checked out at the end of the month.

In several blogs allegedly written by him in 2009, Wang described his treatment by Xu at the hospital. He alleged that Xu had not given him correct treatment, which left him feeling duped.

He wrote in one blog that he had on his mind nothing but avenging his treatment by Xu.