A 34-year-old woman died after falling from the 11th floor of Anqing Municipal Hospital in China’s Anhui province on March 17, 2025. The incident occurred following complications from a dental procedure.
Wu visited the hospital on March 12, 2025, for a wisdom tooth extraction. During the procedure, doctors extracted a healthy tooth instead of the targeted wisdom tooth. They then reinserted the wrongly extracted tooth and secured it with wire tied to adjacent teeth.
According to Wu’s brother, the surgery lasted an hour and a half without proper anesthesia. An X-ray from a second hospital later showed that anesthetic had been injected into the wisdom tooth but not into the tooth that was wrongfully extracted.
The dental error caused Wu damaged teeth, facial swelling, and severe pain. Her brother reported she could only drink water for days after the procedure.
Wu shared a video on Douyin documenting her experience. On March 17, she returned to the hospital to address the issue after reportedly being asked to remove her complaints.
Before her fall, Wu recorded a final statement: “No one addressed this incident. The hospital lied to me from start to finish, causing me immense suffering. Who will save me? Because of the harm this hospital caused, I will die here.”
Police ruled out criminal charges related to her death, according to China Newsweek. A relative stated Wu had been in good physical and mental health before the incident but the situation “broke her psychological defenses.”
The hospital offered Wu’s family 100,000 yuan (S$18,810) in compensation, which they rejected. The family requested access to surveillance footage of the rooftop incident.
Hospital officials confirmed the doctor involved has been suspended. Both the health commission and police are investigating the case.
A dentist not involved in the case stated that the wrong tooth extraction was a rare error in judgment that qualifies as a medical accident.
Lawyer Zhu Xue from Beijing Celue Law Firm noted that if the doctor is found responsible, the hospital would face civil compensation liability and possible administrative penalties.
Chinese media outlet Sin Chew reported that Wu’s family and the hospital later reached an agreement through negotiation, after which the family deleted their public statements about the incident.
The story has received over 100 million views on Chinese social media.
