'Horror Clinic' in southwestern Seoul

A rare form of arthritis has erupted in 10 patients at a clinic in Yeongdeungpo, southwestern Seoul.

The Yeongdeungpo District Health Center said Tuesday that they have been sent to a nearby university hospital in southern Seoul for check.

The center said that the number of victims is expected to increase as additional patients have claimed to have similar symptoms. They were receiving treatment for spinal ailment at the clinic.

“The patients have joints and soft skin tissue inflamed by non-tubercular acid-fast bacterium,” said one doctor at the Gangnam Sacred Heart Hospital. “It’s difficult to determine what has caused the trouble although they seemed to have received contaminated shots.”

He said that most of the patients will have to receive treatment for over a year as outpatients. “It will take a considerable time to find the cause as the case is very rare.”

According to the prescriptions, the patients got shots with a mixture of steroids and pain killers at the clinic.