Family of migrant worker killed by fatal drug dose gets 400,000 yuan

The family of a migrant worker who died after being given drugs in a Beijing mental health hospital has received 400,000 yuan in an out-of-court settlement.

Hao Lei, 20, was admitted to the capital's Huayi Hospital (formerly Beijiao Hospital) in Changping district last June by police, who according to clinical records said he was "glassy-eyed" and slurring his speech.

Court reports show he died five days later after medics administered chlorpromazine, a tranquilizer chiefly used to treat schizophrenia, which caused his internal organs to swell and bleed.

"I know my son was not insane. We don't have any history of psychiatric problems in our family," his father Hao Husheng told METRO on Wednesday from his village home close to Shangluo, Shaanxi province. "Why would we have let him out to work if he had a mental illness?"

A hospital log signed at 1 am on June 21 last year by Chen Guoqin, an officer at Shibalidian police station in Chaoyang district, says Hao Lei had "taken off all his clothes" and was naked when taken into custody. Records show Huayi's doctors later diagnosed him with an "unspecified mental disorder".

The worker's family was notified of his death by the hospital on June 26 - two months after he had left home to find a job in Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi.

However, Hao Husheng, who described his only son as "tall and good-looking", refused to accept the events as detailed by police and hospital staff, and filed a lawsuit last November with Changping district court.

"There must have been a misunderstanding," said the 48-year-old farmer. "He might have been nervous talking to the police, he'd never left home before. When it comes to slurring his speech; well, that was probably because he couldn't speak Mandarin."

As for claims that his son was naked at the police station, Hao Husheng insisted he will not believe it until he sees visual evidence.

In court, Huayi's lawyers argued that Hao Lei was treated following standard procedure and that doctors were not responsible for his death. However, before medical test results were presented to judges, the hospital agreed to an out-of-court settlement on April 12 this year.

"The judge told me the medical tests might take a year to come, but we're already in debt of about 70,000 yuan in this case," said Hao Husheng, who added that many details of his son's death are still far from clear, such why he was in Beijing instead of Xi'an.

Li Fangping, an attorney from Beijing Ruifeng Law Firm who represented Hao Lei's family for free, said: "Such tragedies will keep on happening unless those people involved in sending healthy people to mental hospitals face criminal charges."

Huang Xuetao, another Beijing lawyer who worked on Li's backup team, agreed and added: "I don't think the police are qualified to decide whether a person has mental problems."

Calls by METRO to Huayi Hospital and Shibalidian police station went unanswered on Wednesday.

China Daily

(China Daily 05/19/2011)