MERS Patient No. 80 Family Loses on Appeal... Court Rules "No State Responsibility"

The image shows the family members of MERS patient number 80 and lawyer Lee Jeong-il (right) answering questions from the press after concluding the lawsuit for damages filed against the state and others.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The first trial ruling that recognized the state's liability for compensation to patient number 80, who died from Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in 2015, was overturned in the appellate court.

The Seoul High Court Civil Division 9 (Presiding Judge Son Cheol-woo) ruled on the afternoon of the 26th that the family of MERS patient number 80, Mr. A, lost the damages claim lawsuit against the state, Samsung Life Public Welfare Foundation, and Seoul National University Hospital. Previously, the first trial court had partially ruled in favor of the plaintiff, ordering the state to pay Mr. A 20 million won.

The appellate court judged, "Even if the diagnostic tests and epidemiological investigations for the first MERS patient had been conducted in a timely manner as the bereaved family claimed, the infection of patient number 14, presumed to be the source of Mr. A's confirmed infection, could not have been prevented." It also stated, "Even if the epidemiological investigation related to patient number 14 had been conducted promptly, it is difficult to conclude that Mr. A would have been given an opportunity for early diagnosis and treatment."

Mr. A visited Samsung Seoul Hospital in May 2015 for follow-up treatment of lymphoma and was infected with MERS from patient number 14. He died in November of the same year after battling the disease. The bereaved family filed a damages lawsuit worth approximately 300 million won, claiming that the patient died due to the government's inadequate quarantine response and the hospital's negligence.