Under Draft Law, Occupational Disease Easier to Prove

In 2009, factory worker Zhang Haichao made headlines when he voluntarily underwent open-chest surgery to prove that he had contracted pneumoconiosis, also known as "black lung disease."

Although multiple private doctors had already diagnosed the fatal disease through x-rays, Zhang could not collect workplace injury compensation because a government hospital had refused to corroborate the diagnoses. Suspecting corruption between his employer and the hospital, Zhang opted for an operation to physically reveal the dust resting in his lungs.