(Photo : Flickr; Labeled for Reuse) Baidu is in big trouble right now.


A woman allegedly killed herself after a surgery that went wrong at a hospital she found using Baidu, China's biggest search engine. Her family is now suing the tech giant for compensation.



Zhang Rui, a 27-year-old bride-to-be, searched on Baidu for a hospital that performs surgeries to treat nasal conditions. She found Urumqi Edward Hospital, a hospital at Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (northwestern China) on top of Baidu's list of best hospitals for the said treatment.



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According to her fiancee Yang Weifang, Zhang went to the hospital in August last year with sinus problems. She was diagnosed with rhinitis and underwent surgery on the same day, hoping to be cured come her wedding day.



Three days after the operation, Zhang had been experiencing acute pain and nosebleeds. She couldn't sleep as well. She became depressed and anxious and was diagnosed with a psychological disorder on September 13. Two days, her body was found on the street after jumping from her apartment window in Urumqi. Her family suspects that she may have committed suicide.



Zhang's parents filed a lawsuit against the hospital and Baidu and demand 674,000 yuan in compensation. Hong Li, the family lawyer, said that the hospital did not properly diagnose and treat Zhang, and also failed to remedy the post-surgery side effects, leading to her death. The hospital's lawyer already contacted him for a settlement but they declined and will continue the lawsuit.



Hong added that Baidu is also liable as its search engine provided the information that resulted in Zhang's visit to the hospital. Although the hospital's appearance on Baidu was marked as "advertisement," Hong said that Baidu and other search engines are required to "inspect the certificates of their advertisers and are prohibited from providing false information in search results under Chinese law."




TagsBaidu, Lawsuit, Baidu lawsuit, Xinjiang Uyghur, Xinjiang, death, medical malpractice in China, nose job, nose treatment gone wrong, nose surgery gone wrong in China, Baidu ads, Advertisements, false advertising in China, false advertising