Yang Jae-woong, the director of W Hospital in Bucheon, stated that he does not acknowledge any negligence by the hospital related to the death of a female patient in her 30s who was undergoing treatment at his facility.
Yang appeared as a witness at the Health and Welfare Committee’s national audit at the National Assembly on the 23rd. When asked by Seo Mi-hwa, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party, whether he acknowledged the hospital’s negligence for breaching duty of care, he replied it was difficult to do so.
On May 27th of this year, an incident occurred at Yang’s hospital in Bucheon, where a woman in her 30s, identified as Ms. A, died while being treated for diet pill addiction. CCTV footage revealed Ms. A knocking on the door while clutching her abdomen in a single room at the hospital. A nursing assistant and a caregiver entered, administered a sedative, and restrained her hands, feet, and chest to the bed. Although Ms. A’s abdomen swelled and blood flowed from her nose, nurses did not take any significant action. Tragically, Ms. A died.
According to the autopsy by the National Forensic Service, it was presumed that Ms. A died from acute pseudo-obstruction, possibly due to medications administered at the hospital operated by Yang. In June, the bereaved family filed a complaint against Yang and six other medical staff for involuntary manslaughter due to professional negligence.
In connection with this, Representative Seo criticized, “The deceased complained of constipation and abdominal pain a week before her death and showed symptoms of digestive issues like leaking feces the day before and on the day of her death. Despite having a physician, the hospital did not refer her to an internist, and they forcibly confined, restrained, and sedated the patient for being noisy, which is not treatment but violence and neglect.”
Seo also mentioned the absence of an on-call doctor, pointing out, “The medical records noted that an on-call doctor ordered isolation and restraint, but there was no doctor present on-site at the time. It is said that instructions were given by phone by the attending doctor. This is a violation of Article 22 of the Medical Act.”
Continuing, when Seo criticized, “When the patient lost consciousness, three staff members performed CPR for about 20 minutes until paramedics arrived, yet the on-call doctor did not appear until then,” Yang refrained from commenting, citing an ongoing investigation.
In response to a question about whether he was willing to apologize to the family, Yang expressed, “I am always willing to apologize,” adding, “Once again, I apologize for not safely recovering your daughter and sister after you entrusted them to our hospital,” bowing his head.