'Hospital Denies Medical Error in Response to Cheong Petition on Wife's Death Due to University Hospital Misdiagnosis'

[Asia Economy Reporter Minji Lee] As a Blue House petition claiming that a wife died due to a misdiagnosis by a university hospital doctor sparked controversy, the hospital has actively issued a clarification.

On the 19th, Chung-Ang University Hospital stated in a press release, "We clearly affirm that no medically or institutionally incorrect treatment was performed, and we hope this incident will serve as an opportunity to clarify the facts of the matter."

According to the post uploaded by the petitioner the day before, his wife gave birth via cesarean section at a university hospital in February last year and was discharged in March. Later, in April of the same year, the wife returned to the same hospital with swelling all over her body, including her face, and was diagnosed with early-stage blood cancer at that time.

The petitioner explained, "My wife received first and second rounds of chemotherapy starting in May 2020, but there was little improvement. However, Professor A, a famous professor at the university hospital, recommended a new anticancer drug injection, saying that (my wife's condition) was improving."

He continued, "Professor A administered the new anticancer drug injection costing 6 million KRW per session twice, then said, '(Her condition) has improved a little, so let's continue chemotherapy with that expensive injection.' After that, she underwent chemotherapy two more times," and recalled, "However, my wife's weight dropped to 37 kg, and she was unable to walk properly."

The petitioner added, "Her condition continued to worsen, and eventually, at the end of October 2020, she visited the hematology department of another hospital for consultation," and explained, "A professor at the other hospital diagnosed her not with blood cancer but with chronic active EB virus infection and cytomegalovirus."

He further stated, "The professors said she came in a very poor condition, and due to the previous chemotherapy or other reasons, her entire immune system was compromised, so there was no treatment method available," and revealed, "My wife was unable to properly hold our child and passed away in the hospital on January 14, 2021."

In response, Chung-Ang University Hospital rebutted, "Our medical staff clearly diagnosed the patient with ‘malignant lymphoma (blood cancer)’ according to the World Health Organization (WHO) classification through accurate testing at the time, and subsequently provided normal diagnosis and treatment following standard clinical guidelines."

They also added, "Throughout the treatment period, only drug combinations approved for use by the National Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service were administered, and the expensive drug used last was also an anticancer agent approved for lymphoma treatment," and explained, "Although expensive, we explained to the family and guardians that treatment could still be expected, and administered it with prior consent."

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