Market-driven medicine gone crazy in China:

One of Beijing’s most prestigious hospitals, Beijing Union, has fallen prey to the ticket scalpers, too. The black-market trade is blatant, with no attempt at concealment and little fear of the police.

When a visitor arrives at the hospital gates or the registration building, he is swarmed by hordes of ticket hawkers. “Numbers for specialists! Numbers for specialists!” they shout loudly, sounding like scalpers at a hockey game in Canada.

They charge 300 yuan (about $38) for an appointment with a leading specialist the next morning, and 150 yuan for a ticket for a regular doctor. They also charge 100 yuan for putting the visitor at the front of a queue in the registration building, guaranteeing a number before the numbers sell out. The prices charged by the scalpers are up to 20 or 30 times greater than the official registration fees, which are 14 yuan or less.