China's notorious pollution has inspired a new specialty unit at a southwest China hospital—a clinic dedicated to treating patients suffering symptoms related to smog.
The dedicated clinic at the Chengdu No. 7 People's Hospital treated more than 100 patients in its first week after opening earlier this month.
But Pan Xiaochuan, a professor at Peking University's School of Public Health, said he wasn't aware of other such clinics in China and suggested it may be a publicity stunt motivated by money. “You can't really say a symptom such as a cough or sore throat is caused by” the particles in smog, he said. “Chances are the cold weather is the real cause,” he said. “There might be more hospitals following suit, because I think it's a way to increase hospitals' revenues.”
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