The Shizong People's Hospital in Shizong county, Yunnan Province recently forced its doctors to perform 5,860 antibiotic injections, including cefathiamidine and cefodizime, within one and a half months, solely as a means of making use of the medicines before they expired, the China Youth Online reported on Wednesday.

"Those who do not finish the assigned antibiotics by the end of July will face wage deductions," was an announcement made by Shizong People's Hospital on June 13, 2011.

The director of the hospital office, surnamed Li, said that the announcement that was reported on the Internet was indeed issued by the hospital. The hospital's medicine management officer had accidentally left the drugs in the storeroom for a long time, which resulted in the problem.

"We wanted to cut losses for the hospital," said Li.

The Internet post also claimed that the hospital had taken a 30-percent kickback when it purchased the antibiotics in 2009 at 1 million yuan ($157,500), whereas the hospital has asserted that the price was 300,000 yuan ($47,250) and that no corruption was involved in the transaction.

The director of the hospital has been dismissed as of last week, according to the local health bureau, and the case is under investigation.