The Ministry of Health said Friday that it will release the results of an investigation into a medical billing scandal in which a family said it was charged 15.5 million yuan by a Harbin Hospital.

    "Although I haven't got the final report, I can assure the public that the investigation will get to the bottom of it. We will not let this go unsettled and we will keep the public informed as soon as the result is available," said ministry spokesman Mao Qun'an at a news conference.

    Mao also said the scandal has raised the alarm in the ministry over the supervision of hospitals throughout the country.

    The Ministry of Health plans to establish a special department to supervise China's hospitals, which will conduct inspection tours and make evaluations.

    Mao refused to comment further on the scandal, saying only that it was quite "complicated".

    A 74-year-old retired teacher named Weng Wenhui was treated for67 days at Harbin No. 2 Medical University Hospital, in the capital of Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. Weng died on Aug. 6, 2005, and his family was presented with a hospital bill for 5.5 million yuan (about 680,000 U.S. dollars). This included 4million yuan for imported medicine which the hospital urged the family to buy.

    The bill showed the hospital charged the family for 1,180 different diagnoses and blood transfusions valued at 258,000 Yuan. Ninety-four transfusions were recorded to have been given on a single day.

    The family suspects the imported medicine was used to treat other patients, not their father.

    Along with the final bill, the hospital had also organized medical consultations. In one case, the consultation fee for a specialist was set at 300,000 yuan. The total cost added up to nearly 10 million yuan.

    The Ministry of Health released a preliminary report into its investigation of the hospital soon after the China Central Television exposed the scandal to the nation last November.

    The report revealed that Weng's medical records had been fabricated and the hospital failed to provide evidence that it had treated him with the imported medicine.

    Expensive medical care has become one of the biggest burdens for common people in China and conflicts between patient and hospital frequently occur.

    At a national meeting on medical services in China held last month, the ministry said it wants local governments to provide more lower-cost hospitals.

    "I appreciate the response by many local governments to the initiative," Mao said, adding that the ministry will continue reforms of publicly -owned hospitals.

Source: Xinhua