"Do You Have a Boyfriend?" The Absurd Message Sent by a Radiologist After an X-ray Examination

According to an SBS report on the 4th, Mr. A (22) visited a large hospital operated by the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service to get a chest X-ray and received a baffling text message that night. Photo by SBS

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-ju] A woman in her 20s received an X-ray at a large hospital and later received a personal text message from a radiologic technologist asking, "Do you have a boyfriend?"

According to an SBS report on the 4th, Ms. A (22) visited a large hospital operated by the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service to have a chest X-ray taken and received an absurd text message that night.

The man, who introduced himself as "the radiologic technologist who took the X-ray earlier," said, "I contacted you after seeing the phone number written on the chart," and asked, "Do you have a boyfriend?"

The woman explained to SBS, "The chest images were all visible on the computer screen, so I felt very uncomfortable. Since he accessed my personal information, if he wanted, he could even come to my house, so I was very worried."

The woman immediately complained to the hospital the next day, but it was reported that the hospital tried to brush it off as if it was nothing serious.

The hospital reportedly showed an attitude of quietly trying to dismiss the issue, saying things like "If you are really uncomfortable, change your phone number."

The woman appealed, "I was upset by the hospital's attitude, which seemed to suggest that this kind of thing is somewhat common and should be taken lightly."

Extracting patient personal information and approaching them with a proposal to date is a clear violation of the law. Using personal information for purposes other than patient consent can result in legal penalties.

They can be held responsible for violations of the Personal Information Protection Act or the Medical Service Act, and in cases of violating the Personal Information Protection Act, they may face imprisonment of up to 5 years or a fine of up to 50 million won.

Last year, a doctor at a hospital in Daejeon was fired after sending a personal message to a female patient after viewing her medical records.

The hospital stated, "Although the response was inadequate and unintended," it blocked the radiologic technologist's access to medical records and said it would take personnel action once the investigation is complete.

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