A doctor in Changsha, Hunan province, was sentenced to 17 years in prison on Thursday for operating on patients who did not require surgery and taking bribes.

Liu Xiangfeng, a doctor at the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, was found guilty by the Changsha Intermediate People's Court of the crimes of deliberately harming others and bribery. The court also fined him 420,000 yuan ($59,000).

It found that he had performed surgeries on six patients unnecessarily so he could make extra money while working at the hospital. The operations left five seriously injured and another with minor injuries.

Liu and a co-worker, Luo Yuandeng, exaggerated and fabricated the patients' symptoms to convince them that they needed surgery.

Liu accepted more than 660,000 yuan in bribes from medical sales representatives for introducing medical products to patients, and another 3.58 million yuan for using their drugs in operations.

He also illegally embezzled medical equipment worth 1.93 million yuan. The equipment was later confiscated.

The court said the doctor's crimes were very serious and had an extremely negative impact on society, but because he confessed and forfeited his illegal gains, he received a more lenient punishment.

Liu's co-worker Luo was sentenced to seven years in prison and fined 100,000 yuan for the same crimes.

The case was widely discussed on social media platforms on Thursday, with many netizens saying Liu deserved a harsher sentence for destroying the lives of the patients. Others also said that the hospital and health authorities should also be blamed for not properly carrying out their managerial duties.

In 2022, a post on Quora-type website Zhihu by an anonymous netizen alleged Liu had committed medical malpractice.

In one case, he allegedly cut off a part of a patient's healthy intestines during an operation to treat an intestinal obstruction. He made the family of the patient believe the organ was diseased and the surgery was inevitable, the post alleged.

He was also accused of diagnosing random lumps on patients' bodies as cancerous and pushed the patients to undergo chemotherapy.

Related posts about the accusations went viral on social media platforms, including one on Sina Weibo which has been viewed more than 300 million times.

In 2022, the hospital issued a notice saying that it had found Liu to have committed malpractice and had stripped him of his surgical authority.

Changsha disciplinary authorities launched an investigation on Aug 25 that year. A day later, the Hunan Health Commission and Central South University issued a notice stating that a team of six medical experts had found that Liu had seriously violated laws and regulations.

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