China’s Covid Whistleblower Says Hospital Left Her Nearly Blind
- Wuhan doctor Ai Fen said cataract surgery was botched
- Aier Eye Hospital Group denies responsibility, shares plunge
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The Chinese doctor who was the first to blow the whistle on the coronavirus emerging in Wuhan has become nearly blind in one eye in a high-profile medical dispute that has sent shares of China’s biggest private hospital chain plunging.
Ai Fen, who heads the emergency department at the Central Hospital of Wuhan where Covid-19 patients were first detected, said that a nearly 30,000 yuan ($4,635) cataract surgery in May at the Wuhan branch of the Aier Eye Hospital Group Co. caused deteriorating vision in her right eye. By October, her retina had detached, she said in a video posted on Weibo last week.