Elderly Care Facility Did Not Send 80-Year-Old Who Fell from Bed to Hospital... Director Also Acquitted in Second Trial

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The director of a nursing home, who was accused of neglecting an elderly man in his 80s who fell from a bed and subsequently died, was acquitted again in the appellate court.

According to the legal community on the 8th, the Criminal Appeals Division 2 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Park Nosu) ruled not guilty in the appeal trial of A (67), who was charged with professional negligence causing death, the same as in the first trial.

A, who was the representative of a nursing home located in Jongno-gu, Seoul, neglected the victim B (then 86), who fell from the bed in the early morning of December 2018 and was reported to need hospital transfer. At that time, B had a head wound and complained of pain in the upper body. A also witnessed this but took no further action other than laying B back on the bed and applying ointment to the head.

Eventually, B was transferred to the hospital around 6:30 p.m., about 14 hours after the accident, according to the guardian's wishes, and died on the 31st of the same month from hemothorax caused by multiple fractures.

The first trial court acknowledged that A neglected the duty of care to promptly transfer B for treatment but ruled not guilty, stating, "Based on the evidence submitted by the prosecution alone, it is difficult to conclude beyond reasonable doubt that there is a significant causal relationship between the delay in hospital transfer by the defendant and the death."

The second trial court also stated, "When the ambulance transported B to the hospital emergency room, the victim's consciousness, blood pressure, and pulse were all within normal ranges," and "The fatal hemothorax progressed gradually over several days rather than rapidly, and even if the victim had been transported to the hospital immediately after the fall, it is unlikely that the progression could have been prevented."

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