|
Wei
Zexi, 21, died last month of a rare form of cancer.
He had turned to Baidu to look online for the best place for
treatment, finding a department under the Second Hospital of
Beijing Armed Police Corps which offered an experimental form of
treatment that ultimately failed, according to state media.
Before dying, Wei had posted criticism online accusing Baidu of
promoting false medical information, as well as the hospital for
misleading advertising in claiming a high success rate for the
experimental treatment, state radio said.
"Wei's family says they trusted the treatment because it was
promoted by one of the military hospitals which are considered
credible, and the attending doctor had appeared on many
mainstream media platforms," state radio said.
The regulator said in a short statement Wei's case had attracted
widespread attention on the Internet.
It, along with the health ministry and State Administration for
Industry and Commerce, would investigate Baidu over the case and
"handle it in accordance with the law" and publicize its
findings.
Baidu said in a statement it deeply regretted Wei's death and
sent its condolences to his family.
"Baidu strives to provide a safe and trustworthy search
experience for our users, and have launched an immediate
investigation of the matter," it said.
The company added it welcomed the investigation and would fully
cooperate.
Reuters was not able to reach the hospital for comment.
Baidu has been in trouble before for medical related issues.
This year, it was criticized for selling management rights for
an online forum related to hemophilia to an unlicensed private
hospital, which then used the platform for self-promotion and
deleted comments that challenged its credentials, the official
Xinhua news agency said.
In 2010, China's state-run television accused Baidu of promoting
counterfeit drugs through its search engine.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Robert Birsel)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
|
