By Lee Kyung-min
The Ministry of Health and Welfare will suspend the license of a plastic surgeon who performed a procedure under the influence of alcohol on a three-year-old boy on Nov. 28.
According to the ministry, it notified the 33-year-old plastic surgeon, whose identity was withheld, at a hospital in Namdong-gu, Incheon, after he tested positive following a police breathalyzer test right after the surgery was performed. However, the doctor is not criminally liable since there is currently no specific law banning such action, said police.
In a related move, Rep. Lee Chan-yeol of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) introduced a bill that would make performing surgery after drinking alcohol a crime punishable by a prison term of up to two years, or payment of a fine of up to 20 million won ($18,000).
The moves come after mounting criticism of the lack of laws against such practices.
On the day of the incident, the boy came to the hospital emergency room at around 11 p.m. with a chin injury after he slipped and fell, according to the Incheon Namdong Police Station.
After the surgery, the boy’s parents discovered loose stitches on their son’s chin.
They called police after noticing that the doctor could not walk straight.
Police said at the time the doctor admitted that he had consumed a couple of drinks over dinner before the surgery.
The parents asked for a sober surgeon to complete the treatment, and for the doctor to be punished harshly for negligence.
After the news was reported, on Dec. 1, last year, the hospital’s disciplinary committee dismissed him then suspended some 10 hospital personnel including the doctor’s superiors, the chief emergency room manager, a plastic surgery professor and the chief nurse.
The hospital also apologized to the boy’s parents, and vowed publicly never to let such an incident happen again.
A civic group also voiced strong concern about such malpractices.
“Doctors should treat patients with the utmost care. Performing surgery drunk is beyond highly dangerous and it should be punished. Absolutely,” said an official at Incheon Welfare Association.