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□ our reporter wen lijuan

□ ma ziyu, trainee reporter of this newspaper

"last night, an ambulance brought in an old man who was already in shock. we rushed over to check him and initially diagnosed him with xx. we immediately started emergency treatment. after a four-hour operation, the old man was finally out of danger. here, i want to tell everyone to take care of your health. your health is your capital."

when you are worried about the patient, applauding the doctor's medical skills, and checking your own body, you don't know that this copy actually comes from a "practical post" on the social platform that attracts traffic to medical science accounts. this scene also comes from a short video fabricated by a "net celebrity doctor."

a reporter from legal daily recently searched and found that there are a large number of posts on the internet that teach how to create an "internet celebrity doctor": "medical science template, just apply it and take it away, no thanks", "help you restore a real emergency scene, absolutely eye-catching", "the easiest way to increase the number of fans of a doctor ip"...

as medical and health science popularization becomes increasingly popular, many doctors are keen to popularize science and explain health knowledge on online platforms through short videos or live broadcasts. however, the reporter found that some "internet celebrity doctors" do not hesitate to fabricate plots and touch on soft pornography in order to gain traffic, and then sell goods and courses and carry out improper marketing, which has changed the taste of medical and health science popularization.

in this regard, many experts interviewed pointed out that the health and market supervision departments should work with online platforms to strengthen supervision of "internet celebrity doctors", ban accounts that use their identities as doctors to sell goods through live broadcasts, and at the same time strengthen education and training on doctors' professional ethics and laws and regulations, so that medical popularization can truly play its due social value.

no doctor in the live studio

false certification no such person

ms. yang, who lives in haidian, beijing, has watched many medical and health science live broadcasts in recent years. she recently discovered something strange: there are no doctors in the live broadcast rooms of many "internet celebrity doctors."

"it is basically the assistants who appear on the screen. after connecting with the audience, they will obtain contact information through expressions with homophones such as '加薇' '+威' and then direct them to other social platforms. many times, when i asked about diseases or symptoms in this type of live broadcast room, the assistants would not give a positive response." ms. yang said.

according to the clues provided by ms. yang, the reporter clicked into a live broadcast room with more than 1 million followers and a certified qualification of "beijing xx hospital dermatology doctor xx". he found that the doctor's homepage profile showed that he was a male, but the person appearing in the live broadcast was a woman. the other party claimed to be the assistant of doctor xx in the live broadcast room, and used a series of rhetoric to guide the users of the live broadcast room to another ordinary account with no certification and fewer followers, saying that the account was a special customer service number responsible for one-on-one communication with users, and asked the reporter to add the "doctor's" social account for paid consultation.

in this regard, zheng zhongchen, director of beijing lvtong law firm, believes that assistants' live broadcasts to attract traffic and using large accounts to transfer to small accounts may involve false advertising and fraud. during the live broadcast, disguised statements to guide users to add social accounts may involve infringing on user privacy and may violate the provisions of the cybersecurity law on prohibiting unfair competition on the internet.

there are also some doctors whose certification information is very different from the actual situation - some doctors are certified on the platform as being from a well-known hospital, but in fact there is no such person in the hospital; some doctors' certification information has expired, and they have left the certified hospital but have not renewed their certification; some people directly use other people's identity information for certification in order to deceive the public's trust.

liu xin, director of the medical law and research center of china university of political science and law, once found during a survey that there were more than 50 plastic surgeons certified at the same time in a county-level hospital in shandong. "there are usually only five or six doctors in a county-level hospital department. more than 50 doctors is not normal, and it is obvious that many of them are falsely certified."

liu xin believes that according to the physician law, physicians must have the corresponding professional qualifications, training and passed the assessment, and obtain a physician qualification certificate before they can engage in medical activities. when physicians provide medical services on the internet platform, they must truthfully provide their own professional information, including name, place of practice, scope of practice, etc. the falsification of doctor certification information on the internet platform obviously violates relevant regulations.

"this kind of fraudulent behavior may also constitute the crime of forgery of documents and fraud under the criminal law, because it may mislead patients and cause them to lose property or even risk their lives without being able to receive effective treatment," said liu xin.

what is the high traffic?

cross-border pseudo-science

the reporter noticed that some doctors would publish popular science content that goes far beyond their respective professional fields. for example, some surgeons share knowledge about gastrointestinal health across fields, some otolaryngologists’ content covers a wide range of fields such as gynecology and pediatrics, and some doctors are keen on explaining knowledge about the two sexes in popular science videos, publishing a large amount of content on private topics such as "sex", "married life" and "sexual knowledge" to earn traffic.

ms. li from jinan, shandong said that she had seen dentists explaining topics about sexual health on a short video platform. "i no longer do my main job of popularizing medicine, but am keen on explaining men's knowledge and sexual knowledge. i talk about whatever has high traffic."

the reporter observed that some "internet celebrity doctors" would conduct popular science lectures. in front of the camera, they not only gave traditional medical explanations in white coats, but also wore clothes such as suspender skirts, waist-baring tops, tights, etc., and increased interactivity through plot interpretation. the questions asked and answered were more explicit than each other.

zheng zhongchen said that the "internet celebrity doctors" who make a fuss about gender issues for traffic may mislead the public's understanding of medical knowledge and cause adverse social impacts. they use inappropriate language and pictures, and adopt vulgar and borderline behaviors to attract attention, and the regulatory authorities should deal with them in a timely manner.

in addition to cross-border popular science, the reporter also noticed that some "internet celebrity doctors" conduct "pseudo popular science", leading many viewers into misunderstandings.

on a certain online platform, some "internet celebrity doctors" demonstrate various so-called "vision recovery" techniques through "personal experience", claiming that as long as you train according to their methods, your vision can be significantly "improved" or even "restored", and can be reduced from severe myopia of 800 degrees to 100 degrees.

in response to this, china's internet joint rumor-refuting platform refuted the rumor, emphasizing that there is currently no effective medical cure for myopia, and it can only be prevented from getting worse through scientific correction and improved eye habits.

opening a window to bring goods illegally

posting advertisements to promote medicines

“internet celebrity doctors” try every means to attract traffic, but their ultimate goal is to “monetize”.

on a short video platform, the reporter saw that many "internet celebrity doctors" have opened the window display product promotion function. although the main content of their videos is health science popularization, the products they promote are varied, ranging from health care products to daily necessities, kitchen utensils, etc. there are also some doctors who only recommend certain ingredients or formulas in the video, and do not mention specific products, but will "guide" by replying to fans' questions in the comment area, secretly advertising and promoting drugs.

mr. liu, a beijing resident, had a relapse of herpes zoster some time ago, which tortured him both physically and mentally. one night, when he was watching short videos, he happened to see a "net celebrity doctor" popularizing herpes zoster. he left a message in the comment section asking if there were any medicines to recommend. after a while, the "net celebrity doctor" replied him: you can try ×× medicine, which is absolutely effective. it can not only cure herpes zoster, but also protect you from the sequelae of neuralgia. mr. liu ordered a bottle, but after applying it for a week, there was no effect.

an industry insider told the reporter that the strong market, user demand and the private traffic of "internet celebrity doctors" have made investors optimistic about the monetization ability of these "internet celebrity doctors." "internet celebrity doctors increase outpatient volume by building their own ip, and monetize through live broadcast rewards, window display, online consultation, etc."

the reporter noticed that the "commitment letter" signed by some doctors and a certain live broadcast platform clearly stated that "it is not allowed to publish advertisements for medical services, drugs, medical devices, health foods, special medical purpose formula foods, etc. in any form, and users are not allowed to be guided to seek medical treatment in any form."

so, can these “internet celebrity doctors” sell goods through live streaming?

the reporter found that many policy documents restrict doctors from live streaming sales. the nine principles for honest practice of medical staff stipulates that it is strictly forbidden to sell goods or services to patients and seek personal gain from them; the key points for correcting unhealthy trends in the field of pharmaceutical purchase and sale and medical services in 2022 proposes to severely investigate and punish medical staff who use their positions and identities to live stream sales; the large hospital inspection work plan (2023-2026) proposes to strengthen supervision of medical staff who use their professional identities to participate in the production and release of pharmaceutical advertisements or live stream sales and other disguised advertising behaviors.

industry insiders pointed out that without personally treating patients, doctors should not rashly introduce and promote any drugs and equipment in live broadcasts, so as not to mislead the public and cause accidents due to improper use of drugs and equipment. when doctors introduce or recommend drugs or medical devices, they are inevitably suspected of endorsing the manufacturers of drugs and medical devices. if product quality problems occur, it may have a negative impact on doctors and even lead to corresponding responsibilities. therefore, doctors should fully consider the risks of practicing for commercial sales, live broadcast rewards, paid consultations and other forms of monetization.

special rectification of illegal behaviors

strengthening the regulatory responsibilities of all parties

in fact, in recent years, relevant departments in my country have been strengthening monitoring and handling of the chaos in medical "self-media".

the "key points for correcting unhealthy trends in the field of pharmaceutical purchase and sales and medical services in 2024" issued in may this year requires the standardization of live streaming sales and the purification of the online environment. strengthen the supervision of live streaming sales, information content, and dissemination order on medical-related networks.

not long ago, the cyberspace administration of china deployed a special campaign called "clear and bright: rectification of false and vulgar phenomena in online live streaming", focusing on rectifying five types of prominent problems, including "pseudo-popular science" and "pseudo-knowledge" that confuse the audience, impersonating professionals in the medical, health, judicial and other fields, and conducting improper marketing; wearing revealing clothes during live streaming, deliberately showing sexually suggestive or provocative actions, using provocative language, and publishing "soft pornography", "borderline" and "yellowish" content.

major platforms have also responded positively and taken a number of measures, including banning, to severely deal with so-called "internet celebrity doctors" and well-known big v accounts that spread "pseudo-popular science" and "pseudo-knowledge" and mislead the public.

some hospitals are also strengthening the constraints and supervision of medical video live broadcasts and online consultations. for example, the "we-media platform management measures (trial)" issued by beijing university of chinese medicine dongzhimen hospital requires that no individual shall apply for or operate any type of self-media in the name of the hospital or its departments or units without authorization.

in zheng zhongchen's view, increasing supervision is the key to improving the chaos of "internet celebrity doctors". specifically, online platforms should strengthen the review and management of doctors' certification information to ensure that all certification information is true, accurate and complete. accounts that use their doctor's identity to open live broadcasts to sell goods should be banned. health and health departments and market supervision departments should supervise doctors to strictly abide by relevant regulations and not use their professional identities to carry out live broadcasts to sell goods. advertisements suspected of false propaganda published by "internet celebrity doctors" in disguise or directly should be promptly investigated and punished according to law.

he believes that in order to avoid the "bad money driving out good money" in the field of medical popular science, "internet celebrity doctors" should be encouraged to spread positive energy and create popular science content that is beneficial to the health of the people. at the same time, the incentive mechanism should be improved to encourage doctors to create high-quality popular science content under the premise of compliance to meet the public's demand for medical knowledge. education and training on doctors' professional ethics and laws and regulations should also be strengthened to enable doctors to establish correct professional concepts and improve their professional ethics. ultimately, the internet will provide positive support for the dissemination of health knowledge and allow medical popular science to truly play its due social value.

comics/takayama