Consumer Agency: "If Veterinarians Did Not Provide Sufficient Explanation During Pet Surgery, They Must Compensate for Emotional Damages"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jinyoung] Mr. A's pet cat was diagnosed with a cleft palate about 0.4cm in size at a hospital in November 2019 and underwent surgery, but it recurred, leading to additional surgeries in December of the same year, February, April, and June of 2020. The cleft palate recurred again, and in June 2021, the cat was transferred to another hospital for surgery, where the cleft palate hole had become larger than before the surgery, requiring another operation. Mr. A demanded compensation for the worsening condition. However, the veterinary medical staff argued that they were not responsible because they had sufficiently explained during the surgery consent form process that recurrence could happen even after surgery.

A mediation decision was made stating that if the pet owner’s right to self-determination was violated due to insufficient explanation about complications or side effects during pet surgery, the veterinary medical staff are liable for compensation for emotional damages due to negligence in their duty to explain.

The Korea Consumer Agency’s Consumer Dispute Mediation Committee, which handled the case, announced on the 23rd that it decided the veterinary medical staff must pay 300,000 KRW in compensation.

The committee recognized the applicant’s claim that “Although multiple surgeries were performed at other hospitals, the size of the cleft palate never increased, so I never expected it could become larger after surgery, and if I had been sufficiently informed about this, I would not have proceeded with the surgery.”

It added, “This mediation decision is significant in that it determined compensation for emotional damages because the medical staff failed to prove that they provided specific explanations, thus failing to properly fulfill their duty to explain.”

According to the revised Veterinary Service Act, veterinarians must explain the diagnosis, necessity and method of major treatments such as surgery, possible sequelae or side effects, and owner compliance requirements to the animal’s owner or manager before the treatment, and obtain their signature or seal. Violations result in a fine of 300,000 KRW, with subsequent violations incurring fines of 600,000 KRW and 900,000 KRW respectively.

The committee stated that as the population of pet owners increases, disputes related to veterinary services are expected to rise, urging animal hospitals to provide detailed explanations before treatment and consumers to carefully decide whether to proceed with treatment.

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