- Joined
- Sep 14, 2009
- Messages
- 4,596
- Reaction score
- 5,773
In South Korea, ‘Ghost Surgeries’ Lead to Cameras in Hospitals
South Korea Turns to Surveillance as ‘Ghost Surgeries’ Shake Faith in Hospitals
“Ghost surgeries spread to spinal hospitals because of a confluence of factors, said Kim So-yoon, a professor of medical law and ethics at Yonsei University. Spinal operations are in high demand because of the country’s aging population. There is an undersupply of doctors to meet that demand, she said. Doctors account for 2.5 out of every 1,000 people in South Korea, lower than the 3.3 average of other nations in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Many spinal procedures are also relatively uncomplicated, making it easier to train nurses to do them, she added.
In May of last year, video footage emerged from a spinal clinic, Incheon 21st Century Hospital, that showed nursing assistants performing incisions and putting in sutures. Choi Jeong-kyu, a lawyer who has represented medical malpractice victims, said he received the footage from someone who had worked at the clinic and recorded it secretly. Mr. Choi passed it on to the broadcaster MBC.
Nineteen surgeries were captured in the footage, which showed three nursing assistants operating on patients’ spines. Surgical machines buzzed as the assistants, looking through a medical microscope, used them on patients’ bones and bloody gauze piled up on one side of the surgical table. During each operation, a surgeon eventually appeared and worked on the patient for about five minutes.
“They were treating patients like objects on a conveyor belt in a factory,” Mr. Choi said. “It’s frightening.”
After the video emerged, prosecutors filed suit against the clinic. Five doctors, three of whom were the clinic’s directors, and three nursing assistants were arrested in August. In February, a court found them guilty of unlicensed medical practices and fraud. They were sentenced to up to two years in prison and fined up to 7 million won, about $5,700, each.”
South Korea Turns to Surveillance as ‘Ghost Surgeries’ Shake Faith in Hospitals
“Ghost surgeries spread to spinal hospitals because of a confluence of factors, said Kim So-yoon, a professor of medical law and ethics at Yonsei University. Spinal operations are in high demand because of the country’s aging population. There is an undersupply of doctors to meet that demand, she said. Doctors account for 2.5 out of every 1,000 people in South Korea, lower than the 3.3 average of other nations in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Many spinal procedures are also relatively uncomplicated, making it easier to train nurses to do them, she added.
In May of last year, video footage emerged from a spinal clinic, Incheon 21st Century Hospital, that showed nursing assistants performing incisions and putting in sutures. Choi Jeong-kyu, a lawyer who has represented medical malpractice victims, said he received the footage from someone who had worked at the clinic and recorded it secretly. Mr. Choi passed it on to the broadcaster MBC.
Nineteen surgeries were captured in the footage, which showed three nursing assistants operating on patients’ spines. Surgical machines buzzed as the assistants, looking through a medical microscope, used them on patients’ bones and bloody gauze piled up on one side of the surgical table. During each operation, a surgeon eventually appeared and worked on the patient for about five minutes.
“They were treating patients like objects on a conveyor belt in a factory,” Mr. Choi said. “It’s frightening.”
After the video emerged, prosecutors filed suit against the clinic. Five doctors, three of whom were the clinic’s directors, and three nursing assistants were arrested in August. In February, a court found them guilty of unlicensed medical practices and fraud. They were sentenced to up to two years in prison and fined up to 7 million won, about $5,700, each.”
