The civil affairs department of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region thought it was helping when it set up a Medicaid program for underprivileged children. But some children lucky enough to receive the aid became victims of it, for they lost their lives on the operating table.

Little Chen Sheng cannot play in the fields with the other children because his congenital heart condition means that even walking leaves him breathless. His family is very poor and had despaired of ever getting proper medical treatment for the little boy until Guangxi's civil affairs department set up a Medicaid program for underprivileged children last year.

Under the program, Chen Sheng can receive 21,000 RMB yuan (US$ 3074) to fund heart surgery in certain designated local hospitals. But soon after he was admitted, the hospital said they were unable to treat him and suggested he "be transferred to a higher-level hospital".

Weeping in the hills Chen Luwei, Chen Sheng's father, says his son's heart problem was firstly diagnosed when the child was 8 month old.

"An operation costs at least ten or twenty thousand yuan; there's no upper limit," Chen Luwei sobs as he speaks. These are astronomical figures for a poverty stricken family with an annual income of only 2000 yuan (US$ 293).

Lacking the money to pay for treatment Chen Sheng's father was forced to watch his son getting increasingly feeble; he often wept alone in the hills, feeling helpless and impotent.

Treatment denied Last October, a doctor told Chen Luwei about the Medicaid program and suggested he apply. After a consultation the boy was registered as a patient and told to wait at home for further instructions.

"They said they could do the operation, but soon afterwards they changed their minds," said Chen Luwei. The boy was "asked to leave" the hospital soon after being admitted.

"They said the operation was too complicated. They couldn't afford to pay for it and advised us to send the boy to a bigger hospital in Shanghai where he could get better treatment," said the boy's father with a look of utter helplessness.

The hospital's records show that it has refused to operate on more than 30 children. "Some of them were too weak to undergo an operation," said the hospital manager in charge of the program when questioned, before going on to say that the hospital was losing money because many operations cost more than 100,000 yuan (US$ 14,640).

Another parent said that hospitals only receive 21,000 yuan (US$ 3074) for each child they treat, so they select children in relatively good condition to avoid losing money.

Many children like little Cheng Sheng are being denied surgery with excuses like they are "physically weak", their condition is "too serious" or "the operation required is too complex".

Multiple mortalities Some children have even lost their lives soon after the surgery, and this has branded the whole Medicaid program with a bad reputation.

"Had our son lived, he would be three years' old now," said Ouyang Qunlu. His son also suffered from congenital heart disease.

Mr Ouyang said they received an invitation to go for their son's operation last December. They arrived in Nanning, capital of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, on New Year's Day, two days before the operation.

The doctor claimed the operation was a success. But on January 25, twenty two days after surgery, the boy died in the hospital's intensive care unit.

"We want to know if the haospital was responsible for our son's death. But we can't even afford the appraisal fee". Clearly distressed, the boy's mother says the hospital is refusing to release either her son's medical record or the cause of his death. The parents want to take the hospital to court but are too poor to hire a lawyer. Furthermore, the agreement they signed before the operation obliges them to accept all adverse consequences in case the operation should fail.

A source told theLegal News Weeklythat dozens of children have lost their lives on the operating table, but the waiver in the agreement means that their parents are not eligible for compensation.

(Source:Legal News Weekly, translated by Maverick Chen for China.org.cn, October 20, 2008)