This Doctor Is Too Wealthy

”Therefore, colleagues, people can slander us, vilify us, and boycott us, but we must maintain a mindset of embracing all things and actively learning.”

Wu Buwei was a bit frustrated. He hadn’t said anything wrong, had he? That account really was discussing traditional Chinese medicine in that manner. Yet, unexpectedly, Du Heng had managed to use it as a pretext to give them all a lecture. Moreover, he’d observed that Du Heng seemed to derive increasing satisfaction from correcting them. Whenever an opportunity arose to criticize or reprimand, Du Heng always had a few pointed remarks.

Of course, Du Heng noticed their frustration, chuckled, and said, ”Getting back to our previous topic, Doctor XX has done three particularly egregious things. Slandering traditional Chinese medicine and tarnishing its name, in my opinion, are not the most serious.”

”The worst thing they have done, firstly, is to attempt to overthrow our current public medical system and advocate for the full adoption of private healthcare.”

”Colleagues, we all work in public hospitals. Although our system has many imperfections and there are some bad apples tarnishing our reputation, you should all know full well whether our entire healthcare security system is ultimately good or bad for the ordinary people.”

”Can you imagine the consequences if we were to abandon the public medical system and fully support private healthcare?”

As soon as Du Heng finished speaking, everyone’s expression changed. A slightly older doctor said, ”Is there any doubt? If the public medical system is abolished, then Golden Dollar Medical, over-treatment, and high-cost medical care will run rampant.”

”All quality medical resources will be completely monopolized by private entities and gravitate towards the top tier of society.”

Another chimed in, ”That’s right. If we abandon the public medical system, it means the country would lose its pricing power for medical services. Surgery fees, nursing fees, hospitalization fees, medication costs—all of it would be solely dictated by private institutions.”

”A hemorrhoid operation starting at 50,000 yuan?”

”All medications being high-priced?”

”The wealthy receiving immediate treatment, while the poor queue up and wait for death?”

”Calling an ambulance costing as much as an electric vehicle?”

The others immediately grasped the potential consequences of full privatization, and in an instant, everyone blurted out the potential dire outcomes.

Wu Buwei suddenly said, ”A few days ago, a private hospital in Shuchuan held an internal meeting discussing how to retain patients and how to make them queue up to pay. If this happened in our public hospital, it would be unimaginable. And they actually blamed it on an Intern?”

”Can an Intern decide the agenda for a hospital’s discussions?”

”They’re completely shameless.”

Doctor Zhou chuckled lightly and said, ”What they want is money, not their dignity.”

Someone beside them sighed and added, ”In our public hospitals, the minimum and maximum length of a patient’s stay is determined by their physical indicators. There are explicit regulations for this.”

”But in private hospitals, heh, it all depends on how much money you have in your pocket. As long as you still have money and haven’t fully recovered, you can’t expect to be discharged.”

Du Heng added once more, ”The loss of pricing power will bring hardship to the ordinary people. Furthermore, complete privatization will directly destroy the three-tier diagnosis and treatment system that our country has painstakingly built over decades.”

”Making money is secondary; their aim is to dig up the very roots of socialism.”

Wu Buwei blurted out, ”Their intentions are truly damnable!”

Du Heng merely smiled at Wu Buwei’s indignant outburst and continued, ”The second despicable thing this group does is to continuously try to change the behavioral and dietary habits of our people using the tactic of ’nine truths and one falsehood.’”

”They want us to abandon the habits that our nation has maintained for thousands of years and to wholeheartedly accept Western behaviors and dietary habits.”

”But we are of a different constitution; our bodies have adapted to our current dietary structure. Can we truly cope with such a sudden change?”

Wu Buwei touched his head. ”Dean, I completely agree with what you said earlier, but isn’t this particular point a bit alarmist?”

”Alarmist?” Du Heng chuckled, turning to look at Wu Buwei. ”Do you remember when they criticized our people for consuming lard? They claimed it was unhealthy, unsanitary, and the primary culprit behind cardiovascular diseases.”

”I remember.”

”Well, do you think their claims made any sense?”

Wu Buwei’s eyes widened as he immediately retorted, ”That’s utter nonsense! Our people have been eating animal fats for thousands of years, and we haven’t seen our nation perish or our race die out because of it. Moreover, over these years, almost all families have abandoned the troublesome process of rendering lard, opting instead for convenient vegetable oils. However, not only have we failed to see a decrease in cardiovascular diseases, but they have, on the contrary, become even more prevalent.”

Du Heng pursed his lips and asked further, ”From a digestive standpoint, which is easier to digest: lard or vegetable oil?”

Without hesitation, Wu Buwei replied, ”Of course, it’s lard. Animal fats are structurally very similar to the human body and are easily digested. Vegetable oils, on the other hand, contain plant fiber, which is certainly not easy to digest.”

”Precisely. This is why we always advise our patients to consume less oil and less salt.”

The older doctor beside them said faintly, ”Their actions serve two purposes. Firstly, to expand the market for the vegetable oil capitalists backing them. Secondly, they want us to start from small things, bit by bit accepting Western structures, leading us to believe that their ways are authoritative and healthy. This, in turn, further erodes our traditional views and makes us accept their Western concepts.”