Confirmed prison sentences for Bundang CHA Hospital doctors in newborn death and cover-up case

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] The prison sentences for doctors at Bundang CHA Hospital who concealed for over two years an accident in which a newborn baby was dropped and died have been finalized.

The Supreme Court's 3rd Division (Presiding Justice No Tae-ak) announced on the 14th that it upheld the original sentences of two years imprisonment and a fine of 3 million won each for doctors A and B of Bundang CHA Hospital, who were indicted on charges including evidence tampering and violation of the Medical Service Act. Doctor C was sentenced to two years in prison, and doctor D, who was charged with professional negligence causing death for dropping the baby, received a one-year prison sentence with a two-year probation.

Except for doctor D, the three doctors including A were tried for concealing an accident in August 2016 where a baby born via surgery was dropped while being moved, resulting in death. Doctor A was an obstetrician responsible for the delivery process at the time, and doctor B was a pediatrician who treated the baby injured from the fall. They did not record the fall accident in the surgical records nor leave any records of the brain ultrasound examination related to the accident.

Doctor C was investigated for conspiring in the deletion of the ultrasound examination results. Ultimately, the baby was declared deceased and cremated. During the trial, they claimed there was no causal relationship between the fall accident and the baby's death and denied conspiring to conceal the incident.

The first trial mostly recognized their charges and sentenced doctor A to two years imprisonment, doctor B to a fine of 3 million won, doctor C to two years imprisonment, and doctor D to one year imprisonment with two years probation. Although some acquittals were overturned to convictions in the second trial, the court maintained the sentences considering that they were "medical professionals who had diligently practiced medicine without prior criminal records." They appealed, but the Supreme Court dismissed all appeals.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.