Two months ago a patient at Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH) fell into a coma while receiving emergency care. He was having trouble breathing and sought the doctor on duty, but a doctor showed up only five hours later and the doctor on duty failed at three attempts to use a breathing device, and when the specialist showed up it took him 12 minutes to use the device. During that time the person fell into a coma for lack of oxygen. SNUH says it went by the rules and did nothing wrong, but the case is a typical example of a malpractice dispute.
"Medical accidents" are frequent, but they are hard to prove. It is like destiny's prank, where no one wants to accept responsibility. This time the victim just so happens to be an anesthesiologist who graduated from Seoul National University's medical school. It was he who requested the breathing device when his situation worsened, but that was not accommodated in time. If that is what happens to a doctor, what is it like for regular member of the public?
What makes victims suffer even more is what happens next. Under current laws, it is the victim who has to figure out who made mistakes and how. It is assumed that staff are not in the wrong, and a victim with no medical knowledge has to prove what goes wrong and do so up against doctors with expertise, documentation, the help of colleagues, and financial means. Even if he files a lawsuit it takes six years for a Supreme Court judgment, and there is no official body for helping victims, either.
In response to the need for change the government drafted new legislation on mediating medical disputes seventeen years ago, but it has been stuck in the National Assembly. Our society is no longer at the level where people have to write off medical accidents as bad luck. Medical professionals need to be made to prove that they are not at fault. There also needs to be a minimum of official assistance for helpless victims through the establishment of a mediation body and legal aid committee.
The Hankyoreh, 23 January 2006.
[Translations by Seoul Selection]
[Editorial] Killing Patients Twice Over |
