"Four-Year-Old Dies After 'Emergency Room Odyssey'... Court Orders 400 Million Won Damages for Hospital Negligence"

Regarding the incident in which a critically ill four-year-old child died after being repeatedly refused by multiple hospitals-a situation referred to as the "emergency room odyssey"-the court has partially recognized the responsibility of the hospitals that refused emergency medical treatment and ordered them to pay compensation amounting to several hundred million won.

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According to the Korea Alliance of Patients Organization on April 15, the Busan District Court Western Branch ruled in favor of the bereaved family of the late Donghee Kim, finding the hospitals at fault and ordering them to pay 400 million won, which is 70% of the plaintiff's claim amount.

Kim underwent a tonsillectomy at Hospital A in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province on October 4, 2019. During his recovery, he began to exhibit symptoms of bleeding and was transferred to Hospital B in Busan. Even though his condition deteriorated while hospitalized, the emergency room staff at Hospital B handed Kim over to the 119 rescue team without providing active treatment, and critical medical records were not properly communicated during the transfer.

The rescue team tried to take the unconscious Kim to the pediatric emergency room at Hospital A, where he had undergone surgery. However, Hospital A effectively refused to accept the patient, stating that there was already another emergency patient undergoing cardiopulmonary resuscitation and requesting that the child be taken elsewhere. However, subsequent investigations revealed that there were no emergency patients in the ER at the time whose condition was severe enough to justify refusing Kim’s admission.

As a result, the ambulance had to travel to another hospital about 20 kilometers away. Kim never regained consciousness and remained on life support until he passed away in March of the following year.

The court found both Hospital A, which refused the emergency patient without just cause, and Hospital B, which assigned a substitute on-call doctor and transferred the patient without proper treatment, responsible. The court recognized their joint tort and ordered them to pay about 400 million won, which is 70% of the total claim amount of 578.98 million won.

Previously, in a criminal trial held in October of last year, Hospital A and its doctor were fined 10 million won and 5 million won respectively for violating the Emergency Medical Services Act, while a doctor at Hospital B was fined 5 million won for violating the Medical Services Act. However, all parties were acquitted of charges of involuntary manslaughter due to professional negligence.

The Korea Alliance of Patients Organization stated, "After Kim’s father also passed away from leukemia in 2022, the mother has been fighting alone to uncover the truth behind the medical accident," adding, "This case illustrates the reality that victims of medical accidents are forced to rely on criminal complaints and the difficulties they face in proving their cases."

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