The government’s move to exempt doctors from criminal punishment in case of medical errors is stirring up arguments. Doctors say such a measure is necessary to make sure they can offer medical services to patients in a more stable environment. Objectors criticize this, saying doctors are only aiming to avoid responsibility.
Last Thursday, the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Medical Association (KMA) reached an agreement to “draw up a measure to reduce legal responsibilities that doctors should bear in case of medical errors.”
Under the agreement, the ministry is expected to push for legislating a special law designed to exempt doctors from criminal punishment when medical errors occur while they engage in “normal” medical practice.
The agreement came as the ministry accepted the request from the doctors’ association, in return for the association’s acceptance of the ministry’s proposal to increase the medical college quota in 2025.
In January, the ministry included the legislation of the aforementioned special law in its policy plans to support “essential medical fields” that refer to hospitals treating critically ill, emergency or pediatric patients, or dealing with childbirth.
But the details regarding the law were removed just before the plans were announced to the public amid concerns over stirring controversy.
Doctors have called for the need for the law, saying the possibility of unintentional and uncontrollable medical accidents always exists.
They said the possibility of facing criminal punishment has made doctors hesitant to work for the essential medical fields that often accompany high-risk surgeries and death beyond human control.
They cited the fear of punishment as one of the major reasons for doctor shortages in the essential medical fields, warning that it will make it more difficult for critically ill or emergency patients to receive timely medical treatments.
“The condition of a patient could worsen rapidly although a doctor did his best to practice medicine. If the doctor has to face criminal punishment for this, he would lose confidence,” said Lee Gwang-rae who heads the Incheon Medical Association.
In the survey conducted last year by the KMA targeting its 1,159 members, 41.2 percent said the government should increase medical fees to support the essential medical fields, followed by 28.8 percent calling for reducing doctors’ legal responsibility for medical errors.
But critics including a patients’ group are reacting against the move, saying medical malpractice is already difficult to prove, even in a court of law.
Nam Eun-kyung, a senior official from the local civic group Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice, said the high salaries given to doctors require a commensurate amount of responsibility.
“In many cases, medical accidents occur not because of individuals, but because of systems. Hospitals’ hesitation to use the money to deploy personnel or equipment properly causes accidents,” Nam said. “These systems should be improved first.”
The Korea Alliance of Patients Organization has also raised its concerns over the move, calling for the government to stop discussing the special law and push for another law obliging doctors to offer explanations for medical accidents they are involved in and shifting the burden of proof to them.
