godfather of surgery

Chapter 1337 This is a crime
Following the investigation, the team held an emergency meeting. All the investigation materials were laid out on the long table: promotional materials from a private medical institution in the United States, patient records from a high-end medical center in the United Kingdom, product brochures from a Japanese biotechnology company, and communication records collected from various sources.

“The situation is more serious and absurd than we thought.” Tang Shun laid out the data by category. “The teams from these three countries did not understand the core of the system regulation theory at all. They just mechanically imitated the methods in our paper, and their imitation was full of loopholes.”

He pointed to the document from the United States: "This medical center in California directly copied our treatment protocol flowchart published in *Nature*, only changed the title, and claimed it as their patented technology. But the key point is that Tang Shun turned to the next page, 'They completely misunderstand the technology behind the theory; they are completely deceiving patients. It's unbelievable that this would happen under a supposedly rigorous regulatory system.'"

Song Ziming showed a screenshot of the British medical center's website: "Look here, based on Nobel Prize-winning systems regulation theory, restarting the body's self-healing ability. They stole our clinical data charts, but changed the axis labels incorrectly. Even more outrageous, they claim that this therapy can treat all chronic diseases from cancer to Alzheimer's. In fact, current systems regulation theory is far from capable of doing so."

“The most discreet side is in Japan.” Zhang Lin pulled out a product brochure. “This biotechnology company has launched an oral systemic regulatory biological agent, claiming it’s formulated based on our theories. But they haven’t even done basic metabolomics testing. Here’s the price list: the basic package costs 300,000 yen per month, and the premium package costs 3 million yen.”

Chu Xiaoxiao looked at the materials, her hands trembling with anger: "How could such a thing happen? So blatantly?"

“The problem is more serious than that.” Jiang Jitong pointed to the medical records of those anonymous cases. “These patients developed various problems after receiving these crude imitation treatments. The American case showed severe electrolyte imbalance, the British patient developed liver damage, and the Japanese case showed complete suppression of the immune system. And when the patients had problems, these institutions all shirked responsibility by saying that ‘Yang Ping’s team’s theory itself is flawed.’”

Yang listened quietly, her fingers tapping lightly on the table. The atmosphere in the meeting room shifted from anxiety to anger, and finally settled into a sense of determination.

He slowly began, “This is not an academic disagreement; this is a criminal offense.”

Four words that shocked everyone.

“In the medical field, applying cutting-edge technologies without sufficient verification, deliberately omitting key safety measures, and making false claims about efficacy can cause harm to patients. In the legal systems of the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan, these all constitute serious medical negligence and fraud.” Yang Ping stood up and walked to the whiteboard. “More importantly, they are misappropriating our research results as a pretext. This not only infringes on intellectual property rights but also constitutes de facto fraud. This is not just smearing our theories, but a criminal offense, which we absolutely cannot tolerate.”

He turned to his team: “Our strategy needs a complete overhaul. This isn’t about holding a press conference to clarify academic viewpoints. This is a transnational criminal case.”

"Should we call the police simultaneously in all three countries?" Tang Shun asked.

“Report the crime to the police where it occurred,” Yang Ping stated clearly. “In the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan, collect all the evidence, contact our local partner legal teams, and formally report the crime to the police and medical regulatory agencies.”

Some hesitated: "Professor, won't this... make the international scientific community think we're too assertive? After all, they might say it's just a difference in academic viewpoints?"

“If it’s just a difference in academic viewpoints, we welcome debate,” Yang Ping interrupted him. “But the problem now is that these people don’t understand the theory at all, yet they dare to use it on patients without authorization. This is not within the scope of academic discussion; it’s ignoring the lives of patients.”

He looked at Zhang Lin: "You need to adjust your media strategy. Stop explaining 'the correctness of our theory,' and instead clearly state 'Someone is using our name to conduct illegal medical activities, which has caused harm to patients. We are cooperating with the police in the three countries in their investigation.'"

Zhang Lin's eyes lit up: "Great!"

"Now, let's divide the tasks." Yang Ping began assigning tasks. "Tang Shun, you're in charge of the US line. Robert and Johannesson will help you, and we have a law firm there that we cooperate with. Focus on collecting evidence of false advertising and patient injury records from that medical center. Song Ziming, with the assistance of Mainstein and August, contact the Royal Society of Medicine and medical regulatory agencies. That medical center likely doesn't have a legal medical license. Zhang Lin, you handle the Japanese line. Contact the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. That biotech company's products are suspected of violating the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act. Takahashi will work with you."

He paused for a moment: "All actions must be professional, legal, and based on solid evidence. What we need to do is report criminal activities, and every accusation must be supported by documentary evidence. We must not be lenient and must crack down on them severely."

The meeting ended. The team began working across time zones, speaking with lawyers in the US, medical ethics experts in the UK, and regulatory officials in Japan. Language barriers, legal differences, and time zone issues made the work exceptionally difficult, but no one complained.

Students from the Sanbo Research Institute, scattered across Europe, America, and Japan, also actively mobilized and fully utilized their resources to support this initiative.

Early in the morning, Yang Ping was in his office reviewing materials translated into three languages.

Xu Zhiliang came from the ward with good news: "Lele is responding well after treatment, her body temperature has returned to normal, and immune indicators show that the regulatory pathway has begun to activate."

"Okay." Yang Ping nodded, his eyes still on the screen. "Thank you for your hard work. Keep a close eye on things in the ward."

“Professor…” Xu Zhiliang hesitated for a moment, “Won’t this… big fuss… affect… Lele’s… treatment? I mean, what if the media swarms around again…”

Yang Ping finally raised his head. "We don't need to worry about the media in this kind of thing. If they are objective, it will naturally benefit us. If they lose their objectivity, then why should we care about them? So we don't need to consider these things at all. We should just do what we need to do."

He rubbed his temples: “And we have to do this. If we don’t stop these thieves today, more patients will be harmed tomorrow. Those who receive pseudo-treatment in the United States, Britain, and Japan believe in the name ‘systemic regulation theory.’ We have a responsibility to protect this name from being misused.”

Xu Zhiliang nodded solemnly and left the office.

At seven o'clock, Tang Shun ran over to report on the important progress of the US route.

“Professor, the California Medical Board has agreed to an emergency hearing!” Tang Shun’s eyes were bloodshot but his spirits were high. “Our lawyers submitted a complete chain of evidence against that medical center, including the comparative images of their plagiarism of our paper, injury records of five patients, and internal emails showing that they knowingly concealed the risks. The board believes this constitutes gross medical negligence and fraud, and has initiated licence revocation proceedings and transferred the case to the district attorney. This time, Robert, Johannesson, Woodhead, Griffin… many people have gone to great lengths to help us gather evidence.”

"What are the specific details of the patient's injury?"

“The most serious case was a 60-year-old rheumatoid arthritis patient,” Tang Shun said in a low voice. “The center gave her an extremely high dose of so-called immunomodulators, which resulted in acute kidney injury. She now needs dialysis three times a week.”

Yang Ping closed his eyes. The deepest fear of every researcher is that science will be distorted, simplified, and turned into a tool to harm people. "Has the police opened a case?"

"The district attorney's office has accepted the case and is organizing a grand jury hearing. Our lawyers say that in cases involving patent infringement and patient harm, the sentences can be very heavy if convicted."

At nine o'clock in the morning, Song Ziming reported that news had come from the British line.

“The UK’s healthcare regulator, the General Health and Welfare Commission (GMC), reacted faster than expected!” Song Ziming said. “That medical center didn’t have any registered doctors, and the so-called ‘therapists’ only had massage therapist licenses. They misappropriated our theories to package themselves and charge exorbitant fees. The GMC has joined forces with the police to conduct raids and seized a large number of forged medical records.”

"Are there any injuries to patients?"

“Three cases of liver damage have been confirmed, one of which requires a liver transplant.” Song Ziming’s voice was filled with suppressed anger. “What’s even more infuriating is that when patients have problems, they tell them that it’s a detoxification reaction as the treatment takes effect, and make them continue to receive treatment until they are sent to the emergency room.”

Yang Ping clenched his fist. Ignorance plus greed—that's the most dangerous combination.

"What did the police say?"

"London police have opened a case on charges of 'aggravated bodily harm and fraud,' and the center's director has been barred from leaving the country. GMC is also investigating whether they are involved with more victims."

At 11 a.m., Zhang Lin made a breakthrough in the Japan line.

"The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has taken action!" Zhang Lin practically rushed into the office. "The biotechnology company's factory was raided, and they discovered that their systemic regulatory preparations had no active ingredient analysis at all; they were just ordinary vitamin mixtures. The police also found that they had falsified clinical data, claiming that the '93% effectiveness rate' was completely fabricated."

"Regarding the patient?"

“Twelve patients, including one child, missed the correct treatment.” Zhang Lin placed the materials on the table. “The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department has arrested the company’s head on charges of ‘negligent injury in the course of business’ and ‘fraud,’ both of which are serious crimes under Japanese criminal law.”

With progress made on all three fronts simultaneously, substantial progress was achieved. But Yang Ping had no time to celebrate; he immediately convened his team and instructed Tang Shun to submit a formal report to the Nobel Committee.

At 2 p.m., Yang Ping went to see Lele. His mental state had improved significantly, and his eyes had regained their sparkle.

Yang Ping examined Lele's latest data and found that inflammatory markers had decreased by 40%, the metabolic profile was close to the normal range, and the proportion of immune cell subsets had significantly improved. Most encouragingly, the levels of autoantibodies that cause vasculitis had decreased dramatically.

At 3 p.m., Professor Carlson called directly.

“Professor Yang, the report has been received.” Her voice sounded more serious than ever before. “The committee’s emergency meeting has just ended. We consulted with legal counsel and medical ethics experts.”

Yang Ping listened quietly.

"The committee concluded that the case provided by the complainant, upon verification, was indeed unrelated to your team, but rather a result of a third-party organization misappropriating and distorting your team's research findings. This behavior not only violates scientific ethics, but also constitutes a criminal offense in all three countries."

She paused for a moment: "Therefore, the committee has decided to issue a statement in the name of the committee condemning this misuse of science to harm patients and to support the upholding of scientific integrity through legal means."

Yang Ping felt the heavy pressure on his shoulders suddenly ease, but his voice remained calm: "Thank you for the committee's fair judgment."

“No, we should thank you for your courage.” Professor Carlson rarely showed personal emotion. “In the scientific community, many people would choose to resolve such matters privately, fearing lawsuits and damage to their reputation. You chose the most difficult but correct path, using the law to protect patients and using your actions to define the boundaries of science.”

She concluded by saying, "The committee will make it clear in its statement that the Nobel Prize recognizes the spirit of scientific exploration, but this spirit must be based on ethics and responsibility. Your team has demonstrated that responsibility. Professor Yang, I'm really sorry to have taken up your valuable time."

In the evening, preliminary reports from police and regulatory agencies in the three countries came one after another. The medical center's license in the United States was revoked and its head was prosecuted; the "therapist" in the United Kingdom was arrested and the center was shut down; the company's assets in Japan were frozen and its head faced criminal charges. The media coverage completely shifted from "Nobel Prize in Controversy" to "Transnational Medical Fraud Ring Busted."

Zhang Lin is monitoring global public opinion: "The mainstream voice now is praising our decisive action in calling the police and protecting the rights of patients. The journal Science just published an editorial entitled 'When Science is Misappropriated: The Legal Responsibility and Moral Courage of Research Teams.'"

Tang Shun organized the follow-up work: "The police in the three countries all hope that we will continue to provide technical support to help assess the extent of the injuries of the victims and assist in designing rehabilitation plans."

“We’ll arrange for a team to coordinate,” Yang Ping said. “Those patients are also victims; we should help them.”

"The members of the Sanbo Forum played a significant role this time. From evidence collection to prosecution, they mobilized all resources, which can be said to be very efficient," Tang Shun added.

The Sanbo Forum is Yang Ping's international WeChat group. Those friends can be said to be Yang Ping's students, having learned from him to varying degrees.

Initially, Johannesson, Robert, and others initiated the creation of an online forum with a membership system based on internal referrals. Members were all top figures in the medical field, including Johannesson, Robert, Maninstein, August, and Takahashi. They exchanged ideas and posts on the website. Later, for easier instant communication, they created a WeChat group. This group provided Yang Ping with strong international support; they were his loyal fans.