A Beijing restaurant which served contaminated snails to customers and caused them to contract a parasitic disease is to pay compensation to those affected. All those admitted to the Beijing Friendship Hospital will be able to leave by October 1, a doctor explained. 

To date, Shuguo Yanyi Restaurant has paid compensation of 330,000 yuan (US$41,592) to 27 patients who dined in the restaurant a month ago and became ill after they'd eaten the contaminated snails. But this could be just the beginning of the financial payments. The total amount of compensation could rise to 1.5 million yuan (US$189,000), a restaurant executive said yesterday.

The Beijing Municipal Health Bureau reported 131 people infected with a type of angiostrongyliasis. The disease is caused by parasites and can affect the brain and spinal cord which in turn can lead to meningitis. The diners involved ate the raw or undercooked snails on June 24 with 95 of them eating at the Shuguo Yanyi Restaurant which serves Sichuan-style dishes. The Friendship Hospital alone had diagnosed 111 cases and admitted 70 patients. No deaths have been reported.

The restaurant has suffered a huge drop in income and the loss of customers because of the incident. However, it's apparently greatly tightened up on kitchen regulations and improved conditions. 

"It's an embarrassing problem," Chen Youling, the deputy general manager of the restaurant explained at a press conference Tuesday." We used to earn over 80,000 yuan (US$10,000) a day but now we can only earn 10,000 yuan (US$1,260) a day. The loss is so huge." 

She promised that the first 1.5-million-yuan compensation for treatment would be paid shortly. But 800,000 yuan (US$100,829) of it, nearly 70 percent of the initial compensation offer, is for inaccurate medical diagnosis which led to increased costs. Chen said it was too much for them to afford so they'd have to raise money from everywhere.

The highest award so far has been made to a woman surnamed Lü who received 74,000 yuan (US$9,326) yesterday. She said the actual treatment costs were only about 18,000 yuan (US$2,268) but the remainder of money was for changing hospitals and medical examinations. Compensation for other related issues such as post-treatment and mental suffering is being discussed.

Ten victims hospitalized at Beijing Friendship Hospital and 20 others at the Beijing Xuanwu TCM Hospital have organized themselves into two groups to seek compensation. They said Shuguo Yanyi Restaurant only gave them a rough compensation plan but they want a detailed outline before September 25 including damages for mental anguish and the like.

The restaurant says they'll discuss it with patients according to the condition of individuals and the relevant regulations and laws.

Although the issue of damages isn't settled all the victims of a parasitic disease contracted when they ate undercooked snails in Beijing will leave hospital by October 1, a Beijing Friendship Hospital doctor told Xinhua News Agency yesterday.

"All the patients will leave hospital before the National Day and they can also spend the traditional Mid-Autumn Day with their families," said Yin Chenghong of the hospital's tropical disease institute, "Nearly 50 patients were hospitalized here at one time and many left today and yesterday." The doctor said ten people were still receiving treatment but they were recovering well.

(China.org.cn by Zhang Rui September 20, 2006)