A man in his 50s dies at hospital during procedure for headache... "Follow-up tests alone would have sufficed"

A patient who visited a university hospital due to a headache died during a brain procedure. However, a government-affiliated agency later determined that only follow-up examinations, not the procedure, were sufficient for this patient. On the 13th, JTBC reported, "A woman in her 50s, Ms. A, who had been suffering from headaches, visited a university hospital in Daejeon in October 2022, where the doctor suggested a brain stent procedure."

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Ms. A’s husband told JTBC, "(The doctor) said that if the procedure is not done, the bulging blood vessel could rupture, so the procedure must be done," adding, "It was a matter of life and death, so we had no choice." Also, when Ms. A hesitated, the doctor reportedly said, "I have done this procedure many times, so I am confident." The doctor also wrote on Ms. A’s consent form that "not performing the procedure could result in death."

However, during the procedure, Ms. A fell into a coma due to excessive bleeding and died two weeks later. The bereaved family filed a mediation request with the Medical Dispute Mediation and Arbitration Agency under the Ministry of Health and Welfare. The result recognized medical malpractice and ordered the hospital to pay 240 million won to the family. The agency pointed out, "It is common medical knowledge that this patient only needed follow-up examinations within three months," and "Medical textbooks recommend conservative treatment, but the hospital has not provided any reason for the necessity of the procedure other than claiming they did their best."

There was also an evaluation that problems occurred during Ms. A’s procedure. It was noted that the medical staff could not distinguish whether the procedure site was the right or left side of the brain. Ms. A’s procedure site was the right side of the brain, but the diagnosis was incorrectly recorded as the left side more than 20 times. Furthermore, the bleeding actually started in the back of the brain. The agency pointed out, "Bleeding occurred in a normal blood vessel of the posterior cerebral artery, which is quite far from the procedure site." However, the hospital stated that the video footage of the procedure only remains from after the bleeding started.

The family also appealed that this was not the only suspicious point. Ms. A signed a local anesthesia consent form the day before the procedure, but a general anesthesia consent form with a signature different from Ms. A’s handwriting was found. When a handwriting analysis was requested, the result showed it was not Ms. A’s handwriting.

The university hospital reportedly refused the mediation by the agency, which is non-binding. Consequently, the family filed a police complaint against the hospital and is pursuing a civil lawsuit. The hospital told JTBC, "We cannot disclose specific positions as legal disputes are ongoing," but added, "We made an accurate diagnosis and provided treatment." The police are investigating the attending doctor and others on charges including professional negligence resulting in death.

Ms. A’s husband lamented, "I still vividly remember holding her hand before she went in for the procedure and telling her to come back safely," adding, "I thought it would be simple and that I would see her again in a few hours..."

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