Court Orders State Compensation to Family of MERS Patient No. 80... Legal Representative "Appeal Under Discussion"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The family of the "Patient 80," known as the last patient to battle MERS in South Korea, won a partial victory in a damages lawsuit filed against the government and hospitals. The court found that the government was responsible for "initial response failures," such as narrowly defining the scope of contacts. However, the family's legal representative expressed dissatisfaction with the ruling, stating, "The compensation amount is low, and the court did not acknowledge the hospital's responsibility," indicating an intention to appeal.

The Civil Division 18 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Jaenam Shim) ruled on the 18th that the government must compensate the family of Patient 80, Mr. A, with 20 million KRW in a damages claim lawsuit filed against the government, Samsung Seoul Hospital, Seoul National University Hospital, and others. While the court partially recognized the government's responsibility for inadequate epidemiological investigations, it did not acknowledge the liability of Samsung Seoul Hospital or Seoul National University Hospital. The court stated, "We partially accepted the plaintiff's claim by acknowledging the delay in diagnostic testing for Patient 1 and the inadequate epidemiological investigation at Pyeongtaek St. Mary's Hospital."

Mr. A visited the emergency room of Samsung Seoul Hospital on May 27, 2015, for follow-up treatment of lymphoma cancer and was infected with the MERS virus. The virus was transmitted to him by Patient 14. Patient 14 had been hospitalized for pneumonia at Pyeongtaek St. Mary's Hospital and was infected with MERS from Patient 1, who was in the opposite hospital room. Subsequently, the MERS virus spread to many people at Samsung Seoul Hospital, including Patient 80.

Mr. A was confirmed positive on June 7 of that year and was transferred to Seoul National University Hospital, where he battled the disease for 172 days?the longest among MERS patients. Although he was discharged after testing negative for MERS at one point, he was readmitted after testing positive again. Ultimately, he passed away on November 25 of that year after failing to receive timely treatment for his underlying lymphoma cancer.

The family filed the lawsuit claiming that the government narrowly defined the scope of contacts and that the hospitals failed to lift isolation measures, preventing timely treatment of the underlying disease. The lawsuit sought damages totaling over 700 million KRW.

After the verdict, the legal representative of Patient 80's family indicated an intention to appeal. He said, "We are discussing whether to appeal because the amount recognized as consolation money for the government's liability is low," adding, "The reason Patient 80 died was that the medical staff at Seoul National University Hospital and Samsung Seoul Hospital focused only on MERS treatment and missed the timing for chemotherapy."

Mr. A's family also expressed concern, saying, "We fear we will never receive an apology for not being protected as citizens and patients," and lamented, "This apology should have been given in 2015, but even in 2020, we have no choice but to accept this outcome, which is despairing."