Three days after my father's death, I received a call from the hospital: "Miss Vance, your father incurred $18,736 in medical expenses yesterday. Please come to the hospital to settle the bill as soon as possible." 1 ?? Looking at my father's body, my first reaction was that the hospital had dialed the wrong number. I had paid the bill in full before his discharge. Today was supposed to be the day of his cremation and burial. How could there be more fees? But the person on the other end of the line clicked their tongue impatiently. "Family member, please come pay the bill! How can we provide medical care if you don't pay? It's $18,736." "Are you sure this is a bill for David Vance??" The person on the phone responded very affirmatively, "Yes, hurry up and come." My face turned cold, and I immediately went to the hospital. After getting the bill, I glanced at the date. It was for new medication and treatments prescribed today. Three days ago, my father passed away in this hospital after resuscitation efforts failed. Who were today's imported drugs and tests for? Instinctively sensing something was wrong, I used the excuse of needing them for insurance reimbursement to print out all the test requisition forms. I didn't know until I checked. Once I checked, I found that my father, who was hospitalized for half a month due to a myocardial infarction, had somehow incurred $1.8 million in expenses! Just the cardiac angiography tests were ordered over ten times. There were over thirty cardiac stents???? CT scans were ordered five times in a single day. With a dark face, I went straight to the attending physician. "Doctor, my father passed away in your hospital after resuscitation failed. How did this bill come about?" The doctor froze for a moment, but still said: "It does happen that after discharge, the hospital discovers underpaid fees and asks family members to make up the difference." "Our hospital has never had a case of arbitrary charging. Please rest assured." I pointed at the date on the bill, "But this is clearly newly prescribed medication. My father has already passed away, who is the medication for?" He pointed at the pennants of gratitude on the wall, actually getting a bit angry. "I understand your feelings about your family member passing away, but you are insulting me by doing this!" "Please get out!" I wanted to say more, but the doctor grabbed my wrist and threw me out of the clinic. "If you have any doubts about me, you can go to the hospital director. I will cooperate with any investigation at any time! In my over thirty years of medical practice, this is the first time someone has wronged me like this. It's outrageous!" I held back my anger and tried to reason, "But there's a problem here with the patient. As the attending physician, shouldn't you be responsible??" But as soon as the words left my mouth, I was pushed out by other nurses. "What problem could there be? I'm warning you, don't even think about making trouble! Our security guards aren't to be messed with!" "Or are you intentionally trying to cause trouble and affect other patients' consultations? You can't just finish your own treatment and then cruelly harm others!" As soon as these words came out, the other patients got anxious and started shoving me. My face looked terrible, and I said fiercely: "You won't explain it clearly to me, right? Then I'll call the police!" The next second, a familiar voice came from behind me: "Call the police for what? Chloe, what are you making a fuss about here? This is a hospital." I turned my head and saw my best friend, who was also a doctor at this hospital, frowning and walking into the crowd. I took a deep breath and took out the bill: "Sarah, your hospital's charges are unreasonable. I want the hospital to give me an explanation." But she directly raised her voice. "How is that possible?" "Chloe, when Uncle was alive, he was greedy for money. You are truly his biological daughter, exactly the same." I frowned, "What do you mean?" She adjusted her white coat, actually putting on the airs of a doctor. "I mean, a gentleman loves money, but gets it in a righteous way. Chloe, I'm only saying this because I consider you a best friend. Your family is already so rich, it's not good to come here and try to get free medical care." ?? I was dumbfounded listening to this, and my anger shot straight to the top of my head. "Sarah Miller, as a doctor, you must be responsible for what you say. The bill is sitting right here, and you're saying I want free medical care?" 2 As soon as the words "free medical care" came out, the patients waiting outside immediately looked over. I looked coldly at Sarah. We had known each other for over twenty years, and my dad treated her like a goddaughter. This time, when my dad was hospitalized, we only came to this hospital because of her strong persuasion. But three days ago, when my dad passed away, Sarah didn't even come to take a look. Now, saying such things, I couldn't help but feel chilled. Sarah looked at me with a helpless expression, starting to deflect and pin the blame on me. "Chloe, I know you've been willful since you were little. When Uncle was alive, he could tolerate you infinitely. But now that the old man is gone, you should grow up too. You can't just act recklessly based on your temper!" "I understand how you feel right now, but you can't take your grief over your relative's passing out on the doctors! The attending physician for your father is our senior doctor with over thirty years of experience, widely praised." As soon as this was said, everyone's look towards me changed. "Hehe, turns out she's just being unreasonable. Even her own best friend says so, it shows her character is average." "Your dad died and you don't go home to collect his body, what are you doing wandering around here? We all fought hard to get these appointments. Just because your own dad died, you don't want others to see a doctor?" "So speechless. No wonder the doctor-patient relationship is so tense nowadays, it's all affected by people like you!" How come I never noticed before that Sarah was so scheming, actually preemptively making everyone think I was an unreasonable person. I slapped all the test requisition forms right onto Sarah's chest. "You say I'm making a fuss, right." "Then please, read the contents of these test forms carefully in front of everyone." Seeing Sarah's slightly stiff expression, I realized something was off. Whether as a doctor or a friend, upon hearing about arbitrary charges, the first thing she should do is immediately check the bills. But why was she reacting like this? Sarah's attitude softened a bit, but she was still deflecting and wanted to pull me towards her office. But I pushed her away backhandedly and questioned her on the spot: "It's better to say things clearly face-to-face. I just want to know what serious illness my dad had that required a CT scan five times a day, 8 bottles of Erythromycin IV drips a day, and various IV fluids totaling 200 pounds a day." "My dad was hospitalized for a myocardial infarction for half a month, and I spent a full 1.8 million dollars!" "The most outrageous thing is, my dad has been dead for three days, yet new medical bills can still be generated!" "If your hospital can't give an explanation, I'll have to report this higher up." After saying that, I directly dialed the Department of Health. The patients around me who were just accusing me all opened their mouths in shock. "What?" "200 pounds a day, that's heavier than a person. This is pumping him up like water-injected pork, that's too exaggerated." "Wait, he's dead, where did the medical bills come from?" "My god, let alone arbitrary charges, I'm even starting to suspect if the hospital killed him with their treatment." 3 Just as the call connected, Sarah's face turned extremely ugly. She rushed over and snatched my phone. I stared dead at her, "Sarah, you're not the attending physician. Why are you reacting so strongly?" "Or is it that this matter has something to do with you in the first place?" I clearly saw the veins on Sarah's temple twitch, and her eyes became evasive. I reached out to grab my phone back. While we were struggling over it, Sarah actually smashed the phone onto the ground. And yelled, "Enough!" The phone screen shattered into pieces. I raised an eyebrow and looked at Sarah. "Are you feeling guilty?" Her eyes widened, "Guilty of what? I just can't stand your disgusting and despicable behavior anymore!" After saying that, she took out her own phone and shoved a screenshot of a chat log right in my face. "Chloe, I kindly advised you but you wouldn't listen. Since you're stubbornly sticking to your wrong path, there's nothing I can do." "As a doctor, I must uphold my bottom line." Seeing the so-called chat log in front of me, my heart rate suddenly accelerated. Me: "Sarah, I spent so much money but my dad died anyway. Spending this money feels like such a loss. Is there any way to get the money back?" Sarah: "What are you thinking." "Without a major accident, the hospital won't refund money. Your family is already so rich, why do you have to care about this? Besides, the doctors were trying their best to save him." Me: "Hmph, that old Doctor Shen deliberately prescribed expensive drugs for my dad. I don't care, once I get the money back, I'll treat you to bubble tea." My temples throbbed, and my fingertips trembled slightly from anger. "I never said such things! Who is this? Just because they have my profile picture means it's me speaking?" I wanted to explain, but this time no one was listening at all. Someone in the crowd shoved me hard, "I actually believed you just now. I didn't expect this was a setup you made to extort medical fees!" "Shameless thing. Your dad died because his life was short, what does that have to do with the doctors? You are too disrespectful." "If you ask me, your dad deserved to die!" I couldn't argue against so many mouths, but through the crowd, I could see Sarah curling her lips and waving at me. She even silently mouthed "bye-bye." The next second, I saw her tear up the test forms. After tossing the confetti into the air, she put her hands in her pockets and walked back to her clinic. Waves of dizziness washed over me, followed by heart palpitations, trembling hands, and a constant cold sweat. The floor under my feet suddenly felt as soft as cotton. I was pushed and shoved out. Losing my footing, I stumbled and fell to my knees not far from the hospital. Having taken care of my dad tirelessly for half a month, my body was already at its limit. People continuously walked by me. I instinctively reached out my hand for help, but as my consciousness blurred, I heard someone shouting not far away. "Don't help her, she's an extortionist!" "Careful she doesn't bankrupt you, this one really can't be helped!" My vision gradually lost focus, and I uncontrollably collapsed onto the ground. Before closing my eyes, I could still see people constantly walking back and forth beside me... 4 When I opened my eyes again, I was still lying on the side of the road. The piercing autumn wind had stiffened my body. It took me a while to recover before I slowly climbed up. After returning home, I reviewed the course of events today. Clearly, Sarah had come prepared, as if she guessed I would go settle the score. Fortunately, I had already taken photos and backed up those test forms from earlier. After clarifying my thoughts, I first sent all the materials to another friend who is a doctor. Arbitrary charges are secondary, but arbitrary medication is the most deadly! Early the next morning, I headed straight to the hospital to find the director. But before going this time, I called the Department of Health. We met at the hospital entrance, and the staff solemnly promised me upon seeing me. "Ms. Vance, rest assured, if the situation is true, we will definitely handle it strictly." We went straight to the director's office. Upon seeing me, the director frowned, "Family member, I already know about your matter. The hospital will do its utmost to treat every patient, but we cannot guarantee that everyone can be saved." "Don't even think about getting a refund." Before I could speak, the people from the Department of Health stepped in front of me. "Director Liu, we will clarify the facts, please cooperate with the investigation." Seeing the people from the Department of Health, the director's expression stiffened, and he had to step aside to let us into the office. In front of everyone, I placed the printed test forms and other things on the table. "My father never did these tests at all. These test forms all have your hospital's official seal on them. How else do you want to quibble?" The person from the Department of Health gave a cold snort. "CT scans five times a day, cardiac angiography done over ten times?" "A person has been dead for three days, and new medical bills can still be generated? What, are you treating dead people now?" "Director Liu, the cost of seeing a doctor at your hospital is a bit too high." With conclusive evidence, Director Liu stared at the test forms for a long time without saying a word. He carefully glanced at the people from the Department of Health, a dense layer of sweat breaking out on his forehead. After a long while, he finally looked up at me. "Ms. Vance, recently our hospital has had a lot of new staff. It must be that the newcomers are inexperienced and made a mistake." "How about this, we will definitely bear the mistake, refund the overcharged money, and additionally refund you 30% of the treatment fees, okay?" I looked at the people from the Department of Health. After discussing it, they said to me: "Rest assured, we will severely punish the hospital afterwards, and we will hold a general meeting to publicly criticize them." The director nodded and bowed to me, and also apologized for yesterday's incident. Just as I was about to demand that Sarah personally apologize, my phone rang. Taking it out, I saw it was the doctor friend I asked to investigate the medication. As soon as the call connected, I heard the person on the other end sounding exceptionally serious. "Chloe, it's not just arbitrary charges, their hospital also prescribed arbitrary medication!" "Digitalis-type drugs must be strictly prohibited for myocardial infarction, otherwise it will very easily cause the patient to suffer sudden death. This hospital used this type of drug on the day Uncle passed away."
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