A 92-year-old patient who visited an oriental medicine clinic for back pain died after receiving acupuncture, and the practitioner responsible for the error was fined 20 million won ($14,000) in a case that also included a separate charge of obstruction of business.
Patient, 92, Dies Less Than Three Hours After Acupuncture
Judge Koo Cheon-soo of the Daejeon District Court fined an oriental medicine doctor identified as A 20 million won on charges including professional negligence resulting in death, legal sources said on the 24th.
Prosecutors said A inserted needles into the chest of a 92-year-old patient identified as B, who came to the clinic for back pain at about 2:35 p.m. on Aug. 14, 2022. The procedure caused a small rupture in the heart muscle inside the pericardium, leading to the patient's death. B suffered chest pain and difficulty breathing after the procedure and died at about 5:08 p.m. the same day.
Prosecutors found that A did not check the patient's pulse before the procedure and did not warn the patient in advance of the risks that can arise when needles are inserted into the chest area. They also treated as negligence the fact that A took no meaningful action for about 15 minutes after the patient complained of pain and breathing difficulty, allowing the patient to lose consciousness.
The charges against A went beyond the medical negligence linked to the patient's death. A was also indicted for failing to prepare medical records and for placing several boulders in front of a cafe run by an acquaintance with whom A had long been on bad terms, blocking customers' vehicles from entering.
Court Cites 'Grave Outcome' While Weighing Settlement With Family
The court held against A that a grave outcome had occurred in the patient's death and that A had committed a separate offense of obstruction of business while under investigation for professional negligence resulting in death.
In A's favor, the court noted that A admitted wrongdoing and expressed remorse, and had reached an amicable settlement with the bereaved family of the patient. The court also took into account that A had deposited a sum of money with the court for the victim in the obstruction case.
"A grave outcome occurred in that the victim in the professional negligence case died, and the defendant committed the obstruction of business offense while under investigation in that case, which reflects poorly on the nature of the crime," the court said. "However, the court considered as mitigating factors that the defendant admitted the offenses and expressed remorse, that an amicable settlement was reached with the bereaved family of the deceased victim, and that a sum of money was deposited with the court for the victim in the obstruction case."