Chinese chemist who broke woman’s ribs during CPR cleared of liability
- Pharmacist who performed life-saving procedure on 72-year-old who collapsed in his shop did not violate any medical procedures, legal panel rules
- Woman had been seeking US$1,400 compensation after suffering 12 broken ribs
The owner of a pharmacy in northeast China who was sued by an elderly woman on whom he performed CPR after she collapsed in his shop has been cleared of any liability for breaking her ribs in the process, local media reported on Friday.
The woman, who was not named, was seeking compensation after being left with 12 broken ribs as a result of the procedure, according to online news outlet Thepaper.cn.
Sun Xiangbo, who is a licensed village doctor, was working in his shop in Shenyang’s Kangping county, Liaoning province in September 2017 when a 72-year-old woman entered complaining of a shortage of breath and chest pain, the report said.
Sun gave her a nitroglycerine tablet – a drug used to treat angina in people who have coronary artery disease – but as he was checking her blood pressure, the woman collapsed.
When he realised she was not breathing and there were no signs of a heartbeat, Sun called the emergency services and started to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
An ambulance arrived about 10 minutes later, by which time the woman had regained consciousness.
