'MERS Deceased Patient' Bereaved Family Loses Compensation Lawsuit Against State and Hospital

Seoul Central District Court. / Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The bereaved family of a Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) patient lost the first trial lawsuit seeking damages against the government, local governments, and hospitals. The ruling came about seven years after the lawsuit was filed.

On the afternoon of the 12th, the Civil Division 18 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Park Junmin) ruled against the plaintiff in a damages lawsuit worth over 300 million won filed by the family of patient A, who had MERS, against Konyang University Hospital and the state.

Earlier, six bereaved family members of patient A, who died at Daejeon Konyang University Hospital, filed a lawsuit in July 2015, claiming that "the hospital did not take appropriate measures for the confirmed MERS patient, and the state and local governments also failed to fulfill their roles such as essential information disclosure and epidemiological investigation."

This was one of the first damages lawsuits filed by the bereaved families of MERS infection victims against hospitals and the state.

MERS had a total of 186 confirmed cases in South Korea since the first patient was reported on May 20, 2015, resulting in 39 deaths. Subsequently, bereaved families of infection victims filed successive damages lawsuits against the state and various hospitals.

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