Wed Mar 21, 10:10 AM ET
BEIJING (Reuters) - A group of Chinese reporters
came up with a novel idea to test how greedy local hospitals were
-- pass off tea as urine samples and submit the drink for
tests.
The results: six out of 10 hospitals in Hangzhou, the capital of
the rich coastal province of Zhejiang, visited by the reporters
over a two-day period this month concluded that the patients'
urinal tracts were infected.
Five of the hospitals prescribed medication costing up to 400 yuan
($50), the online edition of the semi-official China News Service
(www.chinanews.com) said in a report
seen on Wednesday. Of the hospitals, four were state-owned.
"It makes one shiver all over even though it's not cold," the China
News Service said after its reporters and colleagues from Zhejiang
Television tested the hospitals.
The Southern Metropolis Daily newspaper said in a commentary on
Wednesday: "Healthy people are diagnosed with diseases. Small
ailments are said to be serious problems. Patients have become
automatic teller machines for the hospitals."
The failure of health reforms and rising costs of medical care have
sparked social discontent and become flashpoints for unrest in the
world's most populous nation, where millions cannot afford to
consult doctors or buy medicine.
Health Minister Gao Qiang has accused greedy hospitals of charging
excessive fees and prescribing unnecessary and expensive
medication.
Market reforms in the past two decades have cut off state subsidies
to many hospitals and left the health care system in need of life
support.
State media have reported patients committing suicide because they
cannot afford exorbitant medical costs.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070321/od_nm/china_hospitals_dc;_ylt=Aqa1We3aPUxmJ3A7NNaPxUvtiBIF
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Ok, they had fake milk powder, fake eggs and now fake medical
reports 
