This Doctor Is Too Wealthy

At this moment, Liu Shengnan looked at Du Heng seriously. ”And we all know that underneath the skull is the brain. Will such a long needle cause damage to the brain? If it does cause damage, who will be responsible?”

Just as Du Heng was about to explain, he suddenly realized something. Liu Shengnan’s question isn’t really about the angle, principle, or method of needle insertion. The main point is the last part: what happens if there’s an accident?

This question is quite tricky.

Du Heng thought for a moment and said, ”Every treatment approach carries risk. Just like when you perform craniotomies, you have patients sign many notices of potential complications. This is unavoidable. But will you stop performing surgeries because they carry risks? And if complications occur during surgery, will the surgeon and the hospital take responsibility?”

Du Heng’s two consecutive questions struck a chord with these neurosurgeons.

Du Heng shook his head lightly. ”No. Despite knowing the risks, you’d still have the patient sign a series of documents, like the Informed Consent Form, to reduce the liability of the physician and the hospital, and then you’d continue with the surgery.”

Frowning, Liu Shengnan said, ”But our surgeons are trained and have instruments to assist during operations. They’re aware of every change that occurs during the surgery, and senior doctors are supervising. In contrast, acupuncture is highly subjective. Only the acupuncturist can gauge the situation when inserting the needles, and they do it based on feeling. Isn’t this too much like a game? It’s too dangerous for the patient.”

With those words, all the TCM doctors in the room glared at Liu Shengnan. They felt this woman wasn’t here to listen to the lecture, but to cause trouble.

Despite their glares, Liu Shengnan remained unperturbed and calmly continued, ”What I mean is, can we choose some acupoints that aren’t so risky, to treat patients while ensuring the safety of the doctors?”

Upon hearing this, everyone’s expressions softened. They had misunderstood; she was on their side after all.

However, Du Heng frowned and shook his head. ”We could change the acupoints, but then we wouldn’t achieve the effects I mentioned earlier. After such treatment, the patient would still have some residual symptoms.”

After saying this, Du Heng paused for a moment, then continued, ”Let’s look at your previous question from a different angle. Imagine a recent university graduate who has studied anatomy. If I tell him, ’Replace this skull today,’ would he dare?”

Du Heng answered his own question. ”He wouldn’t dare. He’d certainly think I was suffering from a mental illness. Even if a senior doctor, like yourself, were by his side, he still wouldn’t dare. Why? Because he knows he can’t perform such a surgery.

Similarly, when a TCM doctor needs to perform acupuncture, if he has undergone rigorous training and practice, he won’t hesitate to use it to save a patient in a critical moment. But if he doesn’t know how, or isn’t familiar with the technique, you could break his legs, and he still wouldn’t dare insert the needle. This is because he understands what this acupoint represents; he is fully aware of the responsibility and consequences of inserting that needle.”

Then, Du Heng looked at Liu Shengnan seriously and said, ”TCM doctors who dare to insert needles at Baihui (GV20) are definitely experienced and confident, just like surgeons. You can’t refuse to save people simply because there’s risk involved. So, your question itself is flawed and invalid. All medicines have some toxicity; both surgery and acupuncture carry risks. If one fears risk and responsibility, they shouldn’t be a doctor. Perhaps being a nutritionist or counselor would be more suitable.

Moreover, I want to emphasize that as long as the acupoint is accurately located and the needle insertion is appropriate, there will be no risk. If there are people who can’t even locate acupoints correctly but still dare to perform acupuncture and moxibustion, they are just like unqualified surgeons who insist on performing surgeries. Such individuals don’t deserve to be doctors. They could be arrested, sentenced, and even face execution by shooting, because they aren’t saving people—they’re committing crimes.”

After Du Heng finished speaking, Liu Shengnan handed the microphone to Li Jianwei and said with a smile, ”Thank you, President Du. That was enlightening.”

Du Heng was taken aback. What does she mean by ’enlightening’?

Although he didn’t quite understand why Liu Shengnan said that, he understood one thing: she definitely wasn’t there to undermine him.

At this moment, someone else raised their hand. After Liu Shengnan’s question, Li Jianwei was reluctant but still passed the microphone over. However, the question this person asked made him sigh in relief.

”President Du, I’ve learned a lot from your lecture. I have a request: could you give me a complete copy of your manuscript?”

The man who stood up spoke with a strong local accent. He chuckled as he held up his notebook. ”The information in this is important, but it’s just a summary of key points. It’s not detailed enough, and I’m afraid I’ll forget it when I get back.”

”Of course,” President Du replied. ”After the meeting, my assistant will send it to you, sir.”

”Oh, you’re too kind, I don’t deserve to be called ’sir’ like that,” the man laughed, waving his hand dismissively. ”I have one more question. I heard that some of our brother units in Jinzhou have sent people to study in your group, President Du. I’m wondering, can hospitals or individuals from our region also come to study in this group? If so, what are the conditions?”

Du Heng readily nodded. ”The purpose of our Traditional Chinese Medicine Stroke Association is to help everyone more clearly understand the cause and pathogenesis of this disease, stroke. At the same time, it aims to cultivate more talented individuals to join the ranks of those treating stroke. So, your request is certainly not a problem.”

Hearing Du Heng’s agreement, the man who asked the question immediately smiled.

But his smile hadn’t lasted two seconds before Du Heng added, ”However, the stroke team has now moved to the Zhonghu Health Center. The facilities there are limited, so we can’t accommodate too many doctors. Besides, too many doctors would hinder effective communication. Therefore, colleagues who wish to come to the stroke team for exchange and study should first register with the association, and the association will make unified arrangements. Also, considering Central Lake’s location, we can provide accommodation, but you will have to cover your own meal expenses. As for other conditions, there are none.”

With that, the main concerns had been addressed, and the meeting quickly moved towards its conclusion.

As everyone slowly departed, heading towards the dining hall for the post-meeting meal, a few people lingering at the back whispered among themselves, ”What a pity, that woman spoiled our plan.”

”Yeah, with the answer he gave on the spot, it’ll be difficult to challenge him from that angle again.”

”You said it.”

”The old saying is true: ’Of all people, women and petty men are the most difficult to deal with.’”

”Traitor.”

These few individuals walked at the very end of the group, muttering about matters only they understood.

Meanwhile, Du Heng had quickly found Lan Changhua. ”Professor Lan, come with me. Let’s go to your room to rest for a while. We can come out again when the banquet starts.”

Seeing the crowd around Lan Changhua, Du Heng worried he might be too tired, so he quickly offered this quiet suggestion.