An English teacher at a private school in China’s Inner Mongolia
region was forced to make a public apology after having bought a fake
tuberculosis diagnosis online, just so he could take a longer vacation
for China’s National Day.
The teacher, identified only as Mr. Du, reportedly paid 470 yuan ($67) for a fake chest scan and doctor’s diagnosis on the internet, both of which showed that he was suffering from tuberculosis, a serious and highly contagious pulmonary disease. He then presented the documents to his employers, hoping it would convince them to approve a lengthier medical leave, allowing him to prolong his China’s National Day vacation. Only he never considered how serious his fake diagnosis actually was.
The teacher, identified only as Mr. Du, reportedly paid 470 yuan ($67) for a fake chest scan and doctor’s diagnosis on the internet, both of which showed that he was suffering from tuberculosis, a serious and highly contagious pulmonary disease. He then presented the documents to his employers, hoping it would convince them to approve a lengthier medical leave, allowing him to prolong his China’s National Day vacation. Only he never considered how serious his fake diagnosis actually was.
Because tuberculosis (TB) is so contagious and potentially
life-threatening, Mr. Du’s school in Hohhot, the capital of Inner
Mongolia, was forced to pay for the medical check-ups of all of the
English teacher’s students, to make sure they hadn’t contacted the
disease as well. As luck, or rather bad luck, would have it, two of the
students tested positive for tuberculosis.
Shocked by the news that some of his students were suffering from TB,
Mr. Du again went online and paid another 315 yuan ($45) for another
fake diagnosis, which showed that he no longer had the disease. Only
parents didn’t believe him this time around, as the condition requires
months of antibiotics treatment to cure, and forced him to undergo a
third testing at a Hohhot hospital. This showed both that Du had never
suffered from tuberculosis – which leaves physical marks on the lungs –
and that the previous X-rays belonged to another person entirely.
Caught with the lie, Mr. Du, who parents say is very popular with
students at the unnamed private school, admitted that he had tried to
deceive his employees in order to prolong his vacation. Afraid of being
caught when the two students were actually diagnosed with TB, he lied
again to cover it up. Only that just made people even more suspicious.
The English teacher admitted that he did not know how serious
tuberculosis was when he chose it as a fake diagnosis. It’s unclear
whether he was allowed to keep his job, especially after the story went
viral on Chinese social media.
