By Kim Se-jeong
Nine-year-old Jeon Ye-kang was admitted to the emergency room of a Seoul hospital with a nosebleed on the morning of Jan. 23, 2014. Doctors conducted a CT scan and magnetic resonance imaging on her.
They also performed a lumbar puncture on her, a medical procedure that collects cerebrospinal fluid by inserting a needle into the spine. The child died two hours later.
Ye-kang's mother, Choi Yun-ju, 40, believes the procedure wasn't even necessary, and suspects that the young doctor who performed the lumbar puncture made a mistake in the process, and the shock killed her daughter.
For a lumbar puncture, the patient should be in the fetal position, but surveillance camera footage showed the girl lying with her back straight and doctors and nurses holding her body tightly.
"I was not allowed to see what they were doing, so I was behind the curtain," Choi said. "I heard her yell a couple of times. Soon after, one doctor shouted over the phone, a group of doctors rushed into the room. I felt something was wrong."
When Ye-kang died, her mother didn't want an autopsy performed at first.
When the family came back to the hospital for an explanation after the funeral, though, the hospital staff told her that her daughter died of shock and her condition was already severe when she arrived at the emergency room.
Ye-kang's parents met with the young doctor who didn't say anything. When they demanded the child's medical records, the hospital refused to release them.
Choi took the case to the Korea Medical Dispute Mediation and Arbitration Agency, a government-run arbitration body, for review and possible settlement, but the agency couldn't consider the case because the hospital refused to take part in it. Under the current law, the mediation process for medical malpractice cannot be started without the hospital's consent.
She filed a lawsuit instead, and her fight — which is ongoing — began to change the law.
For the last two years, she has protested in front of the hospital and at the National Assembly. She also created a website (http://iamyekang.tistory.com) to raise awareness of the girl's death.
She is leading a campaign for legislative change so that victims of medical malpractice can get their cases reviewed and negotiate settlements at the arbitration agency the participation of the hospitals.
According to government statistics, 3,796 mediation requests were submitted between 2012 and 2014, but only 1,607 cases were reviewed because hospitals or doctors refused to cooperate.
Despite opposition from the medical sector, Choi's drive has gained positive reactions from both the public and lawmakers. It gained huge support especially after singer Shin Hae-chul died of medical malpractice in October 2014.
Her push seemed to be making progress by February when the National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee began considering a revision bill called "Ye-kang law" or "Shin Hae-chul law." The revision, however, has been stuck in the Legislation and Judiciary Committee as lawmakers have been focusing on the April 13 general election.
It needs a floor vote by the end of May when the 19th Assembly will end. If a four-year-term of the Assembly ends, bills proposed during it are scrapped automatically. To be passed, they should be re-proposed in the next Assembly.
"I really hope the revision will be passed soon," Choi said. "I have suffered enormously because of the current law, and don't want other families to go through what I went through."
Along with the drive for the revision, she is still engaged in a legal battle with the hospital as it has taken much time and effort for her to prepare the necessary documents to submit to the court in support of her argument. "It is another difficult and time-consuming situation. Honestly, I have little hope of winning, but I will not give up because this is the only thing I can do for Ye-kang," she said.
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| Choi Yun-ju |
They also performed a lumbar puncture on her, a medical procedure that collects cerebrospinal fluid by inserting a needle into the spine. The child died two hours later.
Ye-kang's mother, Choi Yun-ju, 40, believes the procedure wasn't even necessary, and suspects that the young doctor who performed the lumbar puncture made a mistake in the process, and the shock killed her daughter.
For a lumbar puncture, the patient should be in the fetal position, but surveillance camera footage showed the girl lying with her back straight and doctors and nurses holding her body tightly.
"I was not allowed to see what they were doing, so I was behind the curtain," Choi said. "I heard her yell a couple of times. Soon after, one doctor shouted over the phone, a group of doctors rushed into the room. I felt something was wrong."
When Ye-kang died, her mother didn't want an autopsy performed at first.
When the family came back to the hospital for an explanation after the funeral, though, the hospital staff told her that her daughter died of shock and her condition was already severe when she arrived at the emergency room.
Ye-kang's parents met with the young doctor who didn't say anything. When they demanded the child's medical records, the hospital refused to release them.
Choi took the case to the Korea Medical Dispute Mediation and Arbitration Agency, a government-run arbitration body, for review and possible settlement, but the agency couldn't consider the case because the hospital refused to take part in it. Under the current law, the mediation process for medical malpractice cannot be started without the hospital's consent.
She filed a lawsuit instead, and her fight — which is ongoing — began to change the law.
For the last two years, she has protested in front of the hospital and at the National Assembly. She also created a website (http://iamyekang.tistory.com) to raise awareness of the girl's death.
She is leading a campaign for legislative change so that victims of medical malpractice can get their cases reviewed and negotiate settlements at the arbitration agency the participation of the hospitals.
According to government statistics, 3,796 mediation requests were submitted between 2012 and 2014, but only 1,607 cases were reviewed because hospitals or doctors refused to cooperate.
Despite opposition from the medical sector, Choi's drive has gained positive reactions from both the public and lawmakers. It gained huge support especially after singer Shin Hae-chul died of medical malpractice in October 2014.
Her push seemed to be making progress by February when the National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee began considering a revision bill called "Ye-kang law" or "Shin Hae-chul law." The revision, however, has been stuck in the Legislation and Judiciary Committee as lawmakers have been focusing on the April 13 general election.
It needs a floor vote by the end of May when the 19th Assembly will end. If a four-year-term of the Assembly ends, bills proposed during it are scrapped automatically. To be passed, they should be re-proposed in the next Assembly.
"I really hope the revision will be passed soon," Choi said. "I have suffered enormously because of the current law, and don't want other families to go through what I went through."
Along with the drive for the revision, she is still engaged in a legal battle with the hospital as it has taken much time and effort for her to prepare the necessary documents to submit to the court in support of her argument. "It is another difficult and time-consuming situation. Honestly, I have little hope of winning, but I will not give up because this is the only thing I can do for Ye-kang," she said.
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