Lee Jun-seok: "At this point, the country is hostile to doctors... Severe trauma centers are just a drama"

Mention of Assault Incident Involving Ajou University Trauma Center Professor
Strong Criticism of Excessive Responsibility Imposed on Medical Staff

Lee Jun-seok, a member of the Reform New Party, pointed out, "An emergency room doctor who cared for other critically ill patients overnight is suffering from criminal procedures and facing the possibility of becoming a criminal because of a patient he has never even seen," adding, "At this point, it is a doctor-hostile state." On the 23rd, Lee shared a report on his social media (SNS) claiming that a patient who visited the emergency room of a general hospital in Daegu last year died while on the way to another hospital with a plastic surgery department, following the recommendation of the hospital doctor.

Lee Jun-seok, a lawmaker from the Reform New Party, pointed out, "An emergency room doctor who cared for other critically ill patients overnight is now suffering through criminal procedures and facing the possibility of becoming a criminal because of a patient they have never even seen." He added, "At this point, it is a doctor-hostile state." Asia Economy

Earlier, the police applied charges of violating the Emergency Medical Service Act to six medical staff members of the hospital in connection with the death of Mr. A, who had a torn forehead and died after visiting three local hospitals in April last year, and sent them to the prosecution without detention last month. However, the prosecution, which took over the case, requested the police to conduct supplementary investigations to confirm several additional facts and verify evidence for applying the charges of violating the Emergency Medical Service Act.

Lee said, "Regarding the case where a patient visited three hospital emergency rooms but did not receive treatment and eventually died from excessive bleeding, the police sent four emergency medicine professors and two emergency rescuers to the prosecution with an indictment opinion," criticizing, "Some media outlets use the term 'refusal of treatment,' but it is inappropriate." He continued, "In a situation where the emergency room lacks personnel and equipment, transferring the patient to another hospital where proper treatment can be received is an inevitable decision for medical staff," pointing out that simply increasing the number of medical school admissions does not lead to an increase in medical personnel in essential fields such as severe, emergency, pediatric, and obstetric care. Furthermore, he questioned, "In a country where doctors are frequently held criminally and civilly liable and even grabbed by the collar, who would willingly apply to work in fields with high risks and low compensation?"

Regarding the case where a patient’s guardian who assaulted a professor at Ajou University Regional Trauma Center was charged with simple assault rather than under the Emergency Medical Service Act, Lee argued, "As long as the current situation, where medical staff are harshly held responsible but protection for them is extremely lax, does not change, the scenes in the drama 'Severe Trauma Center' will remain nothing more than a fantasy possible only in dramas," adding, "It will be difficult for a second Professor Lee Guk-jong to emerge." He also stated, "Only when doctors themselves are freed from the threat of criminal punishment can they fully exercise their medical skills," and added, "We must first remove the minefield of excessive regulations and punishments that impose undue responsibility on doctors and medical staff."