Ms. Wang has been plagued by a poor appetite and frightening nightmares ever since she had an X-ray taken of her chest in Beijing Yizhuang Hospital in early October.

Wang poses with the X-ray she had taken at Beijing Yizhuang Hospital October 7, 2006. [China Times]

On October 7, 2006, while having an X-ray in Yizhuang Hospital in southeast Beijing, Ms Wang, a native of northwest China's Gansu Province, was asked by the doctor to strip from the waist up and was later asked to strike various poses, greatly embarrassing and enraging the woman, the Beijing-based China Times reported.

"He knew from my accent that I am not from Beijing, and asked me where I come from first," Wang was quoted as saying. "Then he asked me to strip from the waist up, including the bra, lest the clothing affect the results. Since both my sister-in-law who accompanied me to the hospital, and I had never an X-ray taken before, I did what he told me to do. "

"Then, commenting that my hairstyle looked nice, he asked me to tie up my hair, and even stepped forward to adjust it. The whole process lasted more than ten minutes." Wang was quoted as saying.

"I could stand no more, and started to cry. I fled before it ended," Wang said.

When Wang's husband Zhang found out what had taken place, he was infuriated.
After soothing his wife, Zhang called several large hospitals to clarify what had happened.

"They said it is not necessary to strip from the waist up in order to take an X-ray. As long as there are no metal pieces on the clothes, the x-ray film can be taken normally," Zhang told the paper, saying the Yizhuang Hospital was taking advantage of patients.

According to Zhang, Wang has been in bad mood since her visit to the hospital, showing a poor appetite and having nightmares.

"We hope the hospital will give us a satisfactory reply," Zhang was quoted by the paper as saying.

The hospital authorities, however, justified the doctor's requirements, blaming Wang's strong emotional reaction on a lack of communication with the doctor.

"When taking an X-ray, sometimes the doctor asks a patient to take off his or her clothes, and sometimes not. Both are normal. In Wang's case, insufficient communication is to blame," vice president of Yizhuang Hospital Han told the paper, promising to do more to strengthen mutual communication.

A senior doctor with the Radiation Section of the Beijing Friendship Hospital told the paper that whether or not a patient is required to strip depends on which part of the body is X-rayed. In the case of a chest X-ray, stripping is not required, provided there are no metal objects or buttons to interfere with the process.

Ma, a lawyer with a Beijing-based law firm, believes what Wang experienced in the hospital constitutes a civil dispute, and the hospital should apologize to the victim.