Lee Pil-soo, president of the Korean Medical Association, holds an emergency press conference on the case of knife injuries to doctors at the temporary hall of the Korean Medical Association in Yongsan-gu, Seoul on the 17th. News 1
On the morning of the 15th, at the emergency room of a general hospital in Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do, a 74-year-old man, A, wielded a sickle at a doctor and injured his neck. Her wife, who was taken to the hospital in cardiac arrest, received emergency measures such as CPR, but it was determined that the crime was committed with dissatisfaction with her death. An angry crime against a doctor occurred less than a week after the ‘Daegu Lawyer’s Office Arson Disaster’, in which the person who lost the lawsuit on the 9th set a fire with a grudge against the opposing lawyer. It cannot be passed on as a personal deviation.
This incident is no different from terrorism towards the medical community that protects the lives and health of the people. On the 17th, Lee Pil-su, president of the Korean Medical Association, said, “The victim was fortunately saved, but he is suffering from severe anxiety and severe trauma from the shock at the time of the attack. act”, the background condemned.
There have been several cases in the past where a patient or guardian stabbed a doctor, injuring or killing him/her. Then, in December 2018, at Gangbuk Samsung Hospital in Seoul, after Professor Lim Se-won was stabbed to death during a psychiatric treatment by a patient, a law was enacted that allows strong punishment for injuries, serious injuries, and death within a medical institution. However, the safety felt in the actual medical field is the same as it was 10 years ago and now. Rather, it is said that the stricter punishment is creating a situation where the police and prosecutors are reluctant to file a case for violating the Emergency Medical Service Act. It’s a vicious cycle.
According to a report on ‘Integrated Policy Measures for Prevention of Violence among Medical Professionals’ published by the Medical Association last year, 71.5% of doctors who experienced verbal abuse or violence from patients or guardians in the last three years (excluding emergency rooms) as of 2019 were surveyed. Seven out of 10 doctors answered that they had experienced assault in a medical institution. For medical professionals, violence is a familiar everyday life. Measures are urgently needed First of all, the provision of ‘non-intentional punishment’, which prohibits punishment if the victim does not wish, should be abolished. It is known that there are many cases in the medical community that are reluctant to report and punish itself due to concerns such as retaliation. The attitude of the authorities to promptly and severely punish violent acts in the medical field is also important, ahead of their paternalism towards patients and carers. If there were scythes full of intent to kill instead of expressing gratitude to the doctor who did their best to save the patient’s life, who would take care of the patient?
