You can't reproach a group of friends for wanting photographic mementoes of joyous occasions, but it's quite different when the photos are taken in an operating room, with an unconscious patient still lying on the table.

Photos showing several surgeons and nurses smiling as they pose alongside an operating table on which an anesthetized patient was lying went viral online recently. The incident, which happened in Xi'an, Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, resulted in three hospital officials being removed from their posts by local health authorities and all the medical workers in the photos received an administrative punishment.  

When the photos first began circulating on the Internet, the medical workers in the photos were engulfed in a storm of criticism. They were accused of disregarding their patients as well as a lack of professionalism. However, after the medical workers explained that they took the photos in order to celebrate the success of a seven-hour-long surgery and as a commemoration of the operating theater that would shortly be decommissioned, public opinion underwent a U-turn. As of press time, an online survey on sina.com showed that 60 percent of those surveyed believe the staff concerned should not be punished.

As dramatic as the case is, it indicates how sensitive the doctor-patient relationship in China has become. China has seen clashes between doctors and patients escalate in recent years which has jeopardized public trust in doctors. Since patients are naturally considered to be in a disadvantaged position in hospital-patient disputes, doctors can easily become a target of criticisms.

There are indeed many problems in China's healthcare system. The public is discontent with its accessibility and the high costs of hospital treatment. And the medical system is also plagued with the declining ethics of doctors. The strain in the doctor-patient relationship fuels prejudice against doctors and the public usually takes advantage of any controversy around doctors to vent their anger toward the medical system.

However, blind criticism without investigating the truth can only result in the demonization of doctors, further deepening the conflicts between doctors and patients. At a time when doctor-patient relationships are strained, it's particularly important for the public, as well as the media, to remain rational whenever there is controversy involving doctors and patients. We should avoid stirring up even more prejudice against doctors.