Underground Gambling on When Cancer Patients Will Die Exposed
by Stuart Dingle on Thursday, January 10, 2013
From Yahoo Taiwan:
Betting on when late-stage cancer patients would die, doctors and family members wagered over 1 billion [TWD]
Gambling nature is hard to change, to the point where even one’s basic humanity can disappear, betting even on when late-stage cancer patients will die, with even doctors and family members being involved in “death gambling”!
In a report published today in Next Magazine, an unhealthy gambling trend has appeared on Shijia East Street of Taichung’s East District, where over a hundred businesses under the guise of being elderly associations, and with the agreement of family members, used when the terminally ill would die for gambling, involving over 1 billion yuan. On one street just a short 200 metres long, there were 10 fronts participating in the ‘death gambling’ business, making it ‘death gambling street’!
The article noted that poor family member could because of this forgo emergency treatment [to dying family members] and immoral doctors could place bets to win money, both becoming participants in the gambling. Housewives, local gang leaders, insurance agents, etc. even fought to become group leaders [of the gambling racket].
A Next Media Video Report:
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Among the details mentioned in the above report, one is the payout. If the patient dies between 1 and 6 months, the bettor is paid 3x their wager. Government officials and family members can also get 10% dividend/share. However, if the patient dies within one month, there is no payout. After 6 months, the payout is decreased and if after a year, the bettor may lose money. “Even more ridiculous” is that doctors provided consultation for bettors on a patient’s condition.