A Study on Balancing the Demands of Patients’ Families and the Responsibilities of Medical Staff in Medical Emergencies: Starting from the Xiao Zhijun Case and the Yulin Pregnant Woman Case

Abstract

Through analyzing the cases of Xiao Zhijun and the Yulin maternal jumping incident, the authors found significant disputes between the requests for non-indicated cesarean section and medical risk prevention, as well as between the psychology of avoiding childbirth pain and surgical responsibility. Currently, based on people’s current awareness and the responsibility orientation of expert opinions in disputes, medical institutions tend to satisfy family members’ surgical requirements after fulfilling their obligation to fully inform about risks, to reduce the risk of losing disputes. This phenomenon actually reflects the contradiction between the demands of patients’ families and the responsibilities of medical staff in medical decision-making. To balance the responsibilities of medical staff and the demands of patients’ families, the authors believe that multiple governance paths need to be constructed: first, optimizing the level of medical staff’s communication; second, strengthening medical risk science popularization relying on modern information technology to improve patients’ risk cognition ability; and third, raising society’s correct understanding of cesarean section through multiple channels. These measures can help to enhance patients’ trust in hospital diagnosis and treatment results and promote harmonious development of doctor-patient relationships.