In it the New York Times makes several claims about the state of health care in China

The video was edited to elicit maximum fear worry and anxiety

There's also an accompanying article which has much more information. My name is Nathan Ridge

I'm an American living in China as such

I have a unique perspective on stories like these because even though my life is in China now

I still remember what it's like to live in America and not know much about the real China other than what the media outlets say

I've been to over a dozen hospitals in China

I've had dental work LASIK and even surgeries in both countries

I have been insured and uninsured I've waited in lines

Pay fees talk to doctors and nurses and have spent many nights by hospital beds here

I've seen real problems in China's health care system and in America's but this video was actually a shock to me when

I saw inside China's predatory health care system for the first time a wave of emotions washed over me

First and foremost I was depressed and sad for the woman dying from cancer

But even the first time I saw the video I could tell that something wasn't quite right

Before I go any further

I want to let you know that I was an only child of a single parent my mother and she passed away from cancer in

2010 so this issue is very important to me

Cancer is a heartbreaking life shattering disease that needs a cure

But to find a cure we need to be honest about the situation from all angles

So let's talk about the lady who died from cancer in this film in

2011 a 68 year old former school teacher was diagnosed with serious lung cancer at the time

Her son was making what the New York Times called decent money at a pharmaceutical company

Over the next three years she got surgery took traditional Chinese medicines and underwent biotherapy

The doctors recommended chemotherapy, but she turned it down because she felt she was too old

They also recommended radiation therapy, which she also turned down

So her doctor prescribed her IRISA a lung cancer drug

She bought and took a rest for nine months after which the drug was no longer effective

around

2015 after all these treatments hadn't quashed the cancer her son quit his decent-paying job and moved in with her and her husband to help

In any way he could for two years her son made her traditional Chinese medicines and various cancer drugs from recipes

He found on the internet

He was determined to help his mother live as long as she could my mother died in America

Only two weeks after her cancer diagnosis, so I know what it's like to not have enough time in

2017 the New York Times interviewed the family and began working on their story

surgery traditional Chinese medicine biotherapy

ERISA and the various drugs her son made weren't able to beat the cancer though

She did live for six long years after being diagnosed. Sadly. She passed away at 75 years old

That's her story one of struggle and perseverance

She beat the odds and lived longer than most. But ultimately it was just her time to leave us

But now, let's take a look at how the New York Times chose to honor her memory in inside China's predatory health care system

First it's an introduction of her son. Take a look

- June earns $300 a month

we see her son now and all they tell us about him so far is he's making drugs and he only makes

$300 a month which is minimum wage where he lives

So he quit his decent paying job to take a minimum wage bang job and spend time with his mother that's his choice

But notice that they left that part out the tone is already set

Let's find out what he's doing. The medicine needed to treat his sick mother cost 2,000. He's making W

Z400 - it hasn't been approved by Chinese or American regulators

The drug isn't approved in America or China

So either he can source at himself or he can't get it exactly like in America can a man making minimum wage in America?

Afford to treat stage 3 lung cancer. I mean just look at these news articles about the medical in America

This is the number one reason Americans filed for bankruptcy is for medical bills

Many cancer patients must face bankruptcy or die or how about this one?

42 percent of new cancer patients lose their entire life savings

By the way in this article, it says the average amount lost is 92 thousand dollars

These people have normal jobs and are facing bankruptcy and death

How do you think that would work out for someone on minimum wage in America?

So as hard as it is to confront people not being able to afford cancer drugs. It's not a China specific issue

Children

Remember how I said when I first watched this video I could just tell something was wrong

This is a clip of him saying until now we have used these seven drugs

But look at how the New York Times has translated it

We have made these seven drugs a slight but important difference

He's not saying that he made all those drugs. He's saying that she has taken those drugs

We know for example that

They didn't make the Iressa that she took so why are they altering what he said to suggest that he made all of them?

Well to make you think that they never bought me

So now with only this information about her son the video moves on to the narration based section the New York Times makes several

Large claims and then they rely on editing intense music sound effects misinformation and lies to make their case

But don't take my word for it. Let's investigate this together. It's a symptom of a health care system in crisis

so far

the only thing we've seen is a man trying desperately to save his mother during the last months of her life after a long and

horrible battle with cancer

She's received many treatments and now is a last-ditch effort. He's trying anything he can he's making medicine that isn't approved in China or America

So if he were in America, what would be different to me? That sounds like a cancer crisis in the world?

Not a Chinese crisis the introduction of capitalism

and the retreive of the state meant that healthcare was no longer free

hospitals became profit driven weirdly

They are suggesting that hospitals in China are all profit driven and somehow that's the reason for this yet to be revealed crisis

In this video only one hospital is mentioned and that hospital like virtually all major hospitals in China is public

The government sets the prices and the aim of the medical staff in those hospitals is the same as anywhere else

to treat patients

Private hospitals of China aren't the same as they are in America

in fact, all the private hospitals combined make less than 10% the revenue that public hospitals do

The vast majority of private hospitals in China have less than a hundred beds and only a 40% occupancy rate

While the largest public hospitals can treat well over

20,000 people in one single day

Are you getting the picture people in trying to go to public hospitals because here in a socialist country?

They are the best. So how is this caused by for-profit hospitals again? And

China's already committed to moving hospitals to be completely nonprofit by next year

What is America doing about the profit as medical companies are driven by and also?

does it seem a little weird to anybody else to hear an American newspaper complaining about capitalism in another country a

culture of mistrust and inequality now plague the system by this time in the video

I was starting to realize that people who made it didn't really understand China very well

Chinese people trust hospitals and their doctors much more than Americans do

This is something you would be able to observe within a month of living here. It's culturally different than America

Right now we have a friend who's coming back from New Zealand to China to do some very minor procedures. Why?

Because she trusts the doctors here

You should also notice that in this video

Not one person says anything about not trusting hospitals or doctors except for the New York Times

They say there's a culture of mistrust and they show you absolutely no evidence of it at all about 100

gathering online in downtown Shanghai is the entrance to the Shanghai Cancer Center unlike an America in

China prices for the best hospitals are similar to ordinary hospitals

And when Chinese people get sick, they want to go to the best hospitals available. This is why there are lines at the best hospitals

America's solution to this is charge so much more money at these hospitals that only the rich can afford them. Why would that be better?

so if you've got one of the top cancer hospitals in the country priced based on cost rather than on profits and

You've got a culture where people want to see the best doctors possible. You're gonna have a very busy Hospital

That's a good thing people are getting treatment at one of the top cancer hospitals. They can afford it. They are there

Imagine how much better off America would be if enough people can afford the best cancer hospitals for their to be lions

I mean really think about that

If you thought the earlier convenient mistranslation was an accident you're going to be disappointed

Nearly everything a Chinese person says in this video is mistranslated and every one of those

Mistranslations just happens to support the New York Times narrative

I wonder what are the statistical odds that every single translation just happens to support their case

Accidentally, so this guy's only said two things and they altered both of them first

He said they've spent forty three thousand dollars on his wife's cancer treatment

He makes no indication whatsoever

That any of this money was spent at this particular Hospital or over any amount of time

Yet when we see the New York Times translation

It is clearly saying that he has spent the money here

The idea obviously is to make it seem like this is a very expensive hospital

It isn't

Let's compare what these people are paying for a top cancer hospital in China to the prices at the top cancer hospital in America

the people in this big scary line are paying about

five or seven dollars for a consultation with a specialist or an expert if they're uninsured if they have insurance like

95% of Chinese people do then they're paying nothing. I

Literally just searched for top cancer hospital in America

Here's the first one. It's called the MD Anderson

Cancer Center how much do you think would cost for the same consultation with one doctor once did you guess?

$40,000 because if you did you're right it costs

$40,000 to talk to one doctor one time if you have no insurance, if you do have insurance it costs you only

$4,000

So, let's see what else this guy says

It's the second sentences mistranslation that takes the cake didn't know there was a second sentence

That's because they showed him saying it and didn't bother to translate it for you

They didn't think his second sentence needed to be understood. What was that sentence? Let's take a listen

He said my wife got a cold

he seems to be indicating that he's standing in line to get a number for his wife to come to the hospital because she has

a common cold now

She does have cancer but Chinese people go to the hospital for a cold stubbed toes and anything else you could think of

The real question here is why wouldn't the New York Times want you to understand him say he was bringing his wife to the hospital

Because she had a cold

Your chance of seeing a doctor here

It's directly related to how big your wallet is the narration continues with this ridiculously over-the-top nonsense

they are implying quite directly that these people are waiting outside because they don't have any money and if only they had more money they

Could be seen without the wait

Take a moment to picture yourself going to a top Cancer Hospital in America

Outside you find a line of people waiting to go in do you think yourself my god?

If only these people had money they wouldn't be in mine

Of course not so why does it seem so easy to think that here? Well, I'll tell you what, it's the nature of misinformation

Because the New York Times has spent so much of this video harping on about lions outside a top cancer Hospital

We compiled a list of ways. These people can see a doctor at that hospital. Are you ready for this?

You can wait in line. If you want to you can use the hospital's official WeChat account to book an appointment at no additional cost

If you don't know what we chat is I wrote an article about it for medium. But basically it's a chat application and more

or you can use this website and app to book an appointment at no additional cost or

You can use this website and app to the book an appointment again at no additional cost

In fact, they have additional features on top of just booking an appointment

Sometimes you can get free consultations

They have videoconference options where you can sit with your doctor in your province and do a three-way conference call with one of the top

specialists which costs

$120 they have a 24 hour telephone service for one-to-one consultations with one of the specialists

Which is $15.00 for 10 minutes

Or you can even pay $30 to have a two day

Unlimited chat conversations with other specialists including sending them images and having them consult with you

We found at least five other websites and apps that allow you to book appointments with this hospital at no additional cost

If you have an appointment, by the way

You don't have to wait in this big scary line that they keep showing us again and again and again you can just walk in

When they open and give them your number

if you want an appointment with one of the top experts you can just call the

Hospital and set up an appointment again at no additional cost hell

You can even call China Unicom the ISP similar to Time Warner Cable and set up an appointment at this hospital with them

You might be thinking

well

These people are old maybe they don't have internet access or no all the numbers all these places or whatever