Two Deaths from 'Suspicious Injection': The Ugly Crime of a Nursing Hospital Director Revealed After 8 Years

Administering 'Death Injection' to Elderly Tuberculosis Patient
Suspected Crime Due to Hospital's Financial Difficulties
Police Request Arrest Warrant for Hospital Director on Murder Charges

The truth behind the incident in which two hospitalized patients died at a nursing hospital in Seoul is gradually coming to light. It has been eight years since the incident occurred. This is the 'suspected drug-induced murder case of tuberculosis patients.'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

A Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency official stated at a regular press briefing on the 20th, "Director Lee of the nursing hospital administered treatment and medication alone without other nurses present, and the patients died about 10 minutes after the administration." In 2015, Lee administered high-risk drugs to an 80-year-old female patient and a 60-year-old male patient who had tuberculosis at a nursing hospital he operated in Seoul. The drug used at the time was known to be potassium chloride (KCL). KCL is a drug used for executions in some countries.

It was confirmed that Lee treated and administered medication to the patients alone without other hospital staff such as nurses. The police said, "Given these circumstances, it was inevitably difficult to secure witnesses, and moreover, since the crime was committed by a doctor, no one, including the bereaved families, could suspect anything in the early stages." The police suspect that Lee committed the crime out of concern that the hospital’s operation would be disrupted due to negative evaluations if it became known that tuberculosis patients, an infectious disease, were hospitalized, as the hospital was financially struggling at the time.

The Violent Crime Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency applied for an arrest warrant for Lee on the 10th on charges of murder. Lee denied the charges during the police investigation. On the 14th, the court dismissed the warrant, stating, "The direct cause of death of the victims has not been revealed, and there is a lack of direct evidence regarding the act itself." The arrest warrant requested for A (45), an administrative staff member of the hospital identified as an accomplice, was also dismissed. The police plan to conduct supplementary investigations and review whether to reapply for an arrest warrant for Lee.

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