Did some browsing on the internet and found some very interesting tidbits about doctoring in Vietnam.
Bogus doctor executed in Vietnam (story by Agence France Presse on 31 October 2003):
Pham Thanh Tuan, 40, was executed by firing squad on Wednesday in Dong Thap province after his appeal for presidential clemency was rejected last month, a clerk at the provincial People's Court said. He was sentenced to death in June 2002. His death takes the number of people executed in the communist nation this year to at least 29, according to information compiled from state media.
Vietnam suspends doctor for taking bribes (story by Agence France Presse on 19 June 2001):
HANOI - A Vietnamese hospital has suspended a doctor for six months after he extracted 600 dollars from the family of a seriously ill cancer patient on the basis of false promises of quick treatment, an official daily reported Tuesday. Patient Pham Thi Mat, 50, is now terminally ill with uterine cancer after the oncologist, named only as Dr P., failed to deliver on his promises to move her up the waiting list, the Tuoi Tre newspaper said. Managers at the Ho Chi Minh City Cancer Treatment Centre took the disciplinary action Friday after receiving a complaint from Mat's family. Corruption is widespread in Vietnam's public services, where salaries have failed to keep pace with the private sector since the launch of market reforms in the 1980s. The official media regularly talks of doctors, policemen, teachers, and even driving test examiners supplementing their salaries by demanding bribes but few cases ever result in disciplinary or legal action.
Granted these news clips are old news, but my expat medical colleagues and I still worry about the aforementioned widespread problems in the current medical system--even today.
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