Yang Jae-woong Apologizes for Hospital Patient’s Death, Denies Intentional Negligence

Yang Jae-woong, a renowned mental health specialist, has apologized for the death of a hospital patient, but reiterated that “it was not intentional negligence.” In an interview with Hankyoreh, Director Yang Jae-woong expressed his deep sense of responsibility as the hospital director and denied that the medical staff intentionally neglected the patient.

Regarding media reports of patient neglect, Director Yang stated that the term “neglect” can be misinterpreted. He emphasized that the medical staff did not lazily care for patients, despite knowing their responsibilities. However, he acknowledged that there may be room for improvement in patient care.

The deceased patient was quarantined from the beginning of his hospitalization due to the risk of harm to himself and others. Director Yang explained that this measure was unavoidable and that the nursing staff took care of the patient next to him with care.

Director Yang identified the essential problem in the case as the risk of addiction to phenamine (dietamine) and suspected other addictions. However, he did not specify the type of addiction or its link to the patient’s death.

Director Yang clarified that he was not responsible for hospitalized patients, only outpatient care, and was not the attending physician of the deceased patient. He emphasized the importance of the patient-doctor relationship in the Department of Psychiatry and the limited intervention of other doctors in treatment.

Regarding the lack of pre-mortem CPR by medical staff, Director Yang acknowledged that the hospital provides annual training on CPR and defibrillator use. However, he felt incompetent in responding to the medical emergency and plans to provide more detailed training in the future.

Incident Background

A woman in her 30s, Ms. A, was admitted to the hospital in May for treatment of diet pill addiction and died 17 days later. The cause of death is believed to be pseudoileus. The grieving family filed a criminal complaint against the hospital’s medical staff and a complaint with the Human Rights Commission.

Aftermath

Director Yang has left the show he was appearing on and postponed his September wedding to his girlfriend Hani.