魏則西事件發酵 中國調查百度及涉事醫院
HONG KONG — Chinese regulators have begun an investigation into the Internet giant Baidu after the death of a college student who said he received distorted information on cancer treatment from the company’s search engine.
香港——中國監管機構已開始調查互聯網巨頭百度，此前，一名最近去世的大學生曾表示，他從百度的搜索引擎查到的癌症治療信息是誤導。
The student, Wei Zexi, 21, from the central province of Shaanxi, died of synovial sarcoma, a rare form of cancer, on April 12. Before his death, he wrote a long post on a Chinese website that detailed his experience seeking treatment.
這名學生叫魏則西，來自陝西省中部，於4月12日因滑膜肉瘤去世，享年21歲，那是一種罕見的癌症。去世之前，他在一箇中文網站寫了一個詳細介紹自己求醫經歷的長帖。
In a promoted search result on Baidu, he learned of a hospital in Beijing that offered treatment for people with his condition. His family borrowed money to raise the more than 200,000 renminbi, or about $30,000, to pay for a type of immunotherapy from the Second Hospital of the Beijing Armed Police Corps.
從百度推廣的搜索結果中，他了解到北京某醫院爲像患有他這種疾病的人提供治療。他的家人借錢籌集了20多萬元人民幣，以支付武警北京總隊第二醫院的一種免疫療法。
Mr. Wei’s form of cancer is generally treated with surgery and chemotherapy, and he accused Baidu of taking money to promote less proven treatments in its search results. After his death, the search company has been denounced online, with some people calling it by the similar sounding 百毒, or “100 poisons.”
魏則西患的那種癌症的通常治療方法是手術和化療，他指責百度通過在其搜索結果中推廣不成熟的治療方法來賺錢。他去世後，這家搜索引擎公司在網上備受譴責，有些人用發音類似的“百毒”稱呼之。
China has strict laws against false advertising in medical products, but how they apply to online search results is not clear. It also is unclear whether the promoted link that Mr. Wei followed was in fact misleading.
中國有嚴格的法律禁止醫療產品虛假廣告，但這些法律如何用於網絡搜索結果尚不清楚。目前也不清楚魏則西訪問的那個推廣鏈接中的內容是否確屬誤導。
"Companies that were involved in services that deal with human life should be particularly conscientious of their duties when conducting their businesses,” the website of People’s Daily, the Communist Party’s flagship publication, wrote in a commentary that questioned Baidu’s corporate ethics. “Billions of net users trusted Baidu for their search engine and online forum services, the company is hence responsible for the trust and is obligated to taking up their social responsibilities.”
一篇發表在共產黨旗艦出版物《人民日報》網站上的英文評論對百度的企業道德提出質疑，文章寫道，“從事有關人類生命服務的公司在開展自己的業務時，應特別注意自己的職責。億萬網絡用戶信賴百度的搜索引擎和網上論壇服務，公司應對這種信賴負責，有義務承擔起自己的社會責任。”
The Cyberspace Administration of China, the country’s online regulator, acknowledged the public complaints and said on Monday that it would conduct a joint investigation into Baidu with the State Administration for Industry and Commerce as well as the National Health and Family Planning Commission.
中國的網絡監督機構國家互聯網信息辦公室表示收到了網民舉報，並在週一說，將會同國家工商行政管理總局、國家衛生和計劃生育委員會對百度進行聯合調查。
Government and military health authorities have announced a separate investigation into the hospital, Xinhua, the state news agency, reported on Tuesday.
據官方通訊社新華社週二報道，政府和軍隊的衛生部門已宣佈將對一家醫院進行聯合調查。
“Our deepest condolences go out to Wei Zexi’s family,” Tracy Hu, a Baidu spokeswoman, wrote by email. “Baidu is a trusted company and we uphold extremely high standards to make our platform safe and trustworthy.”
“我們對魏則西的家屬表示最深切的哀悼，”百度發言人特蕾西·胡(Tracy Hu)在一封電子信中寫道。“百度是一家值得信賴的公司，我們用極高的標準來維護我們平臺的安全性和可靠性。”
On its Weibo account, Baidu said that the Second Hospital of the Beijing Armed Police Corps, where Mr. Wei received treatment, is a top-level institution.
百度在其微博帳號上說，魏則西前去就醫的武警北京總隊第二醫院是一家頂級醫院。
“We will cooperate with law enforcement investigations to the best of our ability and crack down on all illegal behavior,” Baidu said in a Weibo post. “And we strongly call on the management departments of related hospital bureaus to strengthen hospital supervision and build a trustworthy treatment environment for patients.”
“我們全力配合執法部門調查和打擊一切違法違規行爲，”百度在其微博上說。“也強烈呼籲相關醫院主管部門，加強醫院監管，爲廣大患者創造可信賴的醫療環境。”
The Second Hospital of the Beijing Armed Police Corps has not yet commented on the case. A representative for the hospital could not be reached on Tuesday.
北京武警總隊第二醫院尚未對此事發表任何評論。週二聯繫該醫院代表的努力未果。
Baidu has faced criticism before over the handling of health-related information. In January, it overhauled its health forums after the moderator of a hemophilia discussion group said the management of the page had been sold to a private hospital. In 2012, Zhou Hongyi, the chief executive of the Internet company Qihoo 360, accused Baidu of relying on advertisements of fake health care products for 30 percent of its revenue.
百度此前已在處理與健康有關的信息問題上受到批評。今年1月，百度對其健康論壇進行了改革，之前，百度血友病吧的吧主曾表示，該網頁的管理已出售給了一傢俬人醫院。2012年，互聯網公司奇虎360的首席執行官周鴻禕曾指責百度，稱其收入的30％依賴於虛假的保健廣告。
Mr. Wei wrote that he did not know that when he consulted Baidu for medical information.
魏則西寫道，他諮詢百度的醫療信息時，並不知道這點。
“Baidu, at that time I didn’t know how sinister it could be,” he wrote. “Bidding for ranking on medical information, or the matter with the hemophilia page, should make it clear what sort of thing it was.”
他寫道，“百度，當時根本不知道有多麼邪惡。醫學信息的競價排名，還有之前血友病吧的事情，應該都明白它是怎麼一個東西。”
Baidu says it applies “particular vigilance” to health care pages and has “proactively cleaned up the customer base” by using certification standards and screening potentially misleading ads.
百度說，它對醫療類的網頁採取“特別嚴格的前置審查”，並通過資質審覈、以及對可能存在誤導的廣告進行篩查，“主動清理了客戶羣。”
Mr. Wei’s death has also increased attention on medical entrepreneurs connected with the so-called Putian system, named after the city in Fujian Province from which many of them came. The entrepreneurs made money by selling folk remedies and went on to invest in hospitals around the country.
魏則西的死亡也讓所謂的莆田系受到越來越多的關注，這是一個以福建省一個城市得名的醫療企業家系統，因爲這些人大多來自莆田市。這些企業家通過出售民間偏方賺了錢，後來轉向投資全國各地的醫院。
They are now represented by a national association, the Putian (Chinese) Health Industry Association. Last year, the association was reported to have 8,600 member hospitals, about 80 percent of all private hospitals in China.
這些企業家目前還擁有自己的協會：莆田（中國）健康產業總會。據報道，去年，總會名下共有8600個會員醫院，佔中國所有民營醫院的80％左右。
The spread of the Putian hospitals has relied on widespread online advertising, and Chinese news outlets have questioned the reliability of such promotions.
莆田系醫院的流行主要靠大量的網絡廣告，中國新聞媒體曾對這種廣告的可靠性提出質疑。
“It is necessary to conduct an in-depth review, alongside a serious investigation over whether Baidu’s business is legal, of why, despite prohibitions and supervision, a number of Putian system medical institutions can still rely on swindling to become a formidable presence in China’s medical market,” The Beijing News wrote in a commentary on Tuesday.
新京報網週二的一篇評論寫道，“有必要在嚴肅調查百度商業行爲是否合法的同時，深刻檢討爲何在一道道禁令監管之下，一些莆田系醫療機構依然能夠依靠坑蒙拐騙破繭而出，儼然成爲中國醫療市場一個龐大的存在。”
It was not immediately clear if the department in the Beijing hospital that treated Mr. Wei had a connection to a Putian system company. Although some Chinese news outlets suggested a link, a nurse at the hospital told Huashang Bao, a newspaper based in Xi’an, that the hospital itself controlled the department.
目前尚不能馬上搞清楚，魏則西在北京那家醫院接受治療的部門是否與莆田系統的一家公司有關聯。雖然一些中國新聞媒體暗示有關聯，但該醫院的一名護士對西安的《華商報》說，該部門由醫院直接管理。
