30s Doctor Fined for Patient Death Due to Tube Intubation Negligence Within Institution

Gwangju District Court Sentences 12 Million Won Fine
Bereaved Family Does Not Seek Criminal Punishment

A doctor who mistakenly inserted a tube into the bronchus, causing the patient's death, was sentenced to a fine.

[Asia Economy Reporter Intern Lee Gye-hwa] A doctor in his 30s, identified as A, who caused the death of a patient by improperly replacing a tracheostomy tube, was sentenced to a fine. It was found that Dr. A neglected the duty to carefully check whether the patient could breathe properly after the tube was inserted into the trachea.

On the 21st, the Gwangju District Court Criminal Division 4 (Presiding Judge Park Sang-hyun) announced that Dr. A (36), who was charged with professional negligence resulting in death, was fined 12 million KRW.

Dr. A, who was working as a respiratory medicine resident (intern) at a university hospital in Gwangju, was indicted for inserting the tube incorrectly between the trachea and the soft tissue of the skin on October 16, 2020, causing a man in his 60s with Lou Gehrig's disease, Mr. B, to die from hypoxic acute respiratory failure.

Before Mr. B was discharged, Dr. A replaced the tracheostomy tube (8 cm in length, 2.5 mm in diameter) that had been inserted in Mr. B's neck after the tracheostomy surgery.

According to the investigation, Dr. A neglected the professional duty to carefully check whether the tube was properly inserted into the trachea, whether positive pressure ventilation was needed to push oxygen into the respiratory tract for breathing, and whether respiratory distress occurred.

The court stated, "The defendant's professional negligence in incorrectly inserting the tube led to the patient's death, and the culpability is not light." However, the court also considered "the defendant's confession and remorse, the fact that this was apparently the first time encountering a patient with the rare and intractable disease Lou Gehrig's disease, and that the bereaved family does not wish for criminal punishment through a settlement," as reasons for sentencing.

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