Front Pages: Aug 30

The first white paper on medical disputes in Shanghai showed it takes about 10 days on average to reach a mediation agreement between hospital and patient. Over 40 percent of disputes are caused by a lack of supervision of medical contracts, such as a proper risk analysis of surgeries, according to Shanghai-based Xinmin Evening News. Faults by medical institutions, including the overconfidence of some doctors, led to 14 percent of disputes. Those who intentionally use medical disputes to create confusion and disrupt the working of a hospital only account for 2.2 percent.