Infant’s death ruled major medical accident in China as family says it now faces police pressure

A medical case involving the death of a five-month-old girl in the eastern Chinese city of Ningbo has been formally classified as a “Grade I Class A” medical accident — the most serious tier under China’s medical accident regulations — with hospital staff found to bear primary responsibility, according to an official investigation announced by Ningbo health authorities in February.

The infant, widely referred to online by the nickname “Xiao Luoxi,” died in November 2025 hours after undergoing surgery for a heart defect at a hospital affiliated with Ningbo University. Investigators found the surgical team had not adequately assessed the risks of the operation, made errors during the procedure, failed to promptly disclose complications that arose during surgery, and provided inadequate post-operative monitoring. Officials concluded these failures were directly linked to the infant’s death from heart and respiratory failure.

As a result of the findings, the lead surgeon was removed from his position as head of the hospital’s cardiothoracic surgery department and had his medical license revoked, while the anesthesiologist involved was removed from her post, and a pediatric intensive care doctor was suspended from practice for six months. Police have also opened a criminal investigation into the case.

According to the hospital’s own account of the operation, the surgeon had told the family before the procedure that the operation was minimally invasive with a 99 percent success rate and would take roughly two and a half to three hours. The surgery instead lasted about nine hours, including roughly seven hours under general anaesthesia, and the family said hospital staff did not proactively inform them of complications during that time. The infant was moved to intensive care after the operation and died that night.

A post-mortem examination obtained by the family, according to Chinese-language reporting on the case, found discrepancies between the pre-operative diagnosis and the autopsy findings, including questions over whether the surgical patch had fully covered the defect and whether a surgical incision had been properly closed. The family has pursued both a lawsuit against the hospital, which a local court accepted in December, and a separate criminal complaint with police.

The case has remained a focus of intense discussion on Chinese social media in the months since, with the family’s mother posting updates about her efforts to seek accountability. Some commentators online have argued that the official investigation’s findings did not go far enough, and questioned why the operation was deemed necessary at all given the size of the defects involved.

The case took a new turn this month. According to a report by the overseas Chinese-language outlet The Epoch Times, the infant’s mother, father and grandmother said in online posts that they had been summoned by Ningbo police on 15 June for questioning and subsequently remained at a police station. The report said the mother indicated that if she had not posted an update by a certain time that evening, it should be assumed she had been detained. The outlet further reported that the family later posted video from inside the police station saying they had written wills and were demanding a harsher sentence for the doctors involved, and that the father said officials had threatened to reopen an old case against him and warned of a lengthy prison sentence.

The same report said supporters from other parts of China travelled to Ningbo in response, with one supporter from Guizhou province reportedly intercepted by police shortly after arriving and forcibly sent home. It also said dozens of police and plainclothes officers had been stationed around the police station, and that a Beijing-based lawyer had travelled to Ningbo and posted a warning online that police questioning is legally limited to 24 hours and that repeated or extended detentions without proper grounds would be unlawful.

These claims about the family’s recent treatment by police have not been independently verified and have not been addressed in any official statement located by this publication. Ningbo authorities have not, as of publication, issued a public response to the specific allegations of prolonged questioning, intimidation, or restrictions on the family’s ability to speak publicly. This report will be updated if officials respond.

Separately, questions have also been raised online about whether the hospital’s surveillance footage from the operation was adequately preserved. Ningbo’s health investigation addressed this point directly, stating that the operating room where the surgery took place was fitted with two cameras — a wide-angle panoramic camera used for real-time monitoring, which had its storage drive removed in 2022 for patient privacy reasons and therefore retained no recording function, and a separate camera focused on monitoring the anaesthesia cart, which did retain footage. Investigators said this configuration had been verified by police under notarization and was in line with relevant national health industry standards.

The case has drawn broader public attention in China to questions of medical accountability, the preservation of evidence in disputed medical cases, and the treatment of families who publicly pursue grievances against hospitals and local authorities. As of early June, the medical damages lawsuit brought by the family against the hospital remained before the Haishu District People’s Court in Ningbo, with no verdict yet announced.

This report draws on Chinese-language media coverage, official notices from Ningbo health authorities, and reporting from overseas Chinese outlets that has not been independently corroborated by this publication. Claims regarding the family’s recent treatment by police are presented as allegations pending official clarification or independent verification.