Hospital recognized Baek's injury from external factor: records
By Lee Kyung-min
Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH) apparently had recognized that injuries to farmer Baek Nam-ki, who died last month following 10 months in a coma after being knocked over by police water cannon, were due to this external event, in direct contradiction to its death certificate which said he died of illness, according to medical records obtained Sunday.
The records may be a disadvantage for the police who have asked for an autopsy citing an unclear cause of death, despite opposition from Baek’s bereaved family members and civic groups.
Rep. Jung Choun-sook of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea released data from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) after obtaining them with the consent of Baek’s family.
Under the state-run National Health Insurance, patients pay a small portion of treatment costs, and the rest is paid by medical institutions, which later file for reimbursement to either HIRA or the National Health Insurance Service.
According to the data, SNUH submitted a monthly request to HIRA for reimbursement of medical fees for Baek’s treatment on 11 occasions since he was transferred to the hospital Nov. 14. In the request, the hospital stated he was being treated for a subdural hemorrhage caused by extrinsic trauma.
However, Baek’s doctor, professor Baek Seon-ha, ordered a junior resident to write the cause of his death as illness and has maintained the opinion although many others in the medical circle disagree with him.
“The professor should bring this matter to an end by voluntarily correcting the error,” Jung said, adding the current controversy would not have happened if he had written the cause of death as stated in the request to HIRA. “We hope that he will uphold his conscience as a medical professional,” she added.
Last Wednesday, the Korea Medical Association submitted a letter of opinion to the National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee, saying that SNUH violated guidelines from the World Health Organization, which states that the cause of death must be determined by the preceding cause, not by the condition that the patient shows shortly before being pronounced dead.
The SNUH death certificate said Baek died of cardiopulmonary arrest and acute renal failure as a result of the subdural hemorrhage. It did not say the hemorrhage was caused by an external factor.
In protest against the hospital’s death certificate and the investigative authorities’ attempt to push ahead with the autopsy, more than 3,000 people gathered in Daehangno, central Seoul, Saturday. They also demanded punishment for former National Police Agency Commissioner General Kang Sin-myeong, who was in charge of the police force during the anti-government demonstration where Baek was hit by the water cannon.