BEIJING — Wang Jun, a doctor in a hospital in southern China, was busy with a line of patients on Wednesday when, after a blow to his skull, he became the latest fatality in a plague of violence afflicting the country’s hospitals.

Dr. Wang’s assailants appeared to be family members of at least one patient waiting to be treated by him and his colleagues, news reports said.

“The family members complained that the doctors were not vigorous in treating patients,” said a report from Xinhua, the main state-run news agency, citing staff members at the Shaodong County People’s Hospital in Hunan Province, where Dr. Wang worked as an ear, nose and throat specialist.

“They swore at and hit Dr. Wang Jun, who was treating patients, and he fell to the ground injured,” Xinhua reported.