| A public petition posted on the Cheong Wa Dae website, Sunday, demands heavy punishment of an obstetrician who allegedly performed a C-section operation under the influence of alcohol, during which one of the twin babies died. / Screen captured from the Cheong Wa Dae website |
By Lee Hyo-jin
The police have launched an investigation into the allegation that an obstetrician of a maternity clinic located in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, performed a C-section operation while drunk, resulting in the death of one of the patient's twin babies.
Cheongju Heungdeok Police Station said Tuesday that they have confirmed that the doctor was drunk during the surgery, performed on Oct. 9, 2020, and are conducting a further investigation into the case.
Police had booked the doctor for driving under the influence on his way to the hospital on the same day.
To determine whether there had been any medical malpractice during the operation, the law enforcement authorities have requested an investigation at the Korea Medical Dispute Mediation and Arbitration Agency, as well as the Korea Medical Association.
The speculations against the doctor were first raised by a public petition posted on Cheong Wa Dae's website, Sunday, by the patient.
The petitioner, who claimed to be the mother of a five-month-old daughter, wrote, “If the accident had not occurred, I would have become the mother of two, instead of one.”
The woman, who was then pregnant with twins, visited the maternity hospital as her water broke prematurely. “Since my doctor was not on duty, I was examined by another doctor who said that everything was fine and that we could proceed with a natural delivery,” the petition read.
But after a few hours, they called for an urgent C-section operation as the heartbeat of one of the babies' was not detected. The doctor who arrived at the hospital performed the surgery, but one of the babies did not survive.
The petitioner claimed that the doctor was drunk, saying, “He came into the operating room with the strong smell of alcohol.”
The police, who were called to the site by her husband, conducted a sobriety test, and confirmed that the doctor's blood alcohol level was 0.01 percent. “What was more shocking was his shameless attitude, saying out loud that he had a few drinks,” the petitioner said, calling for a thorough investigation into the case and heavy punishment of the doctor if found negligent.
The hospital admitted that the doctor was drunk, but claimed that it was unrelated to the baby's death, as the baby had already died before the doctor had arrived at the hospital.
But the chance of the doctor seeing any punitive measures for performing the operation under the influence seems small, as there is no clause on the performance of medical procedures while under the influence in Korea's Medical Act, and doctors usually avoid criminal charges.
According to data submitted by the health ministry to Rep. Kwon Chil-seung of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, seven doctors were found to have carried out medical procedures while drunk between 2015 and June last year, and all of them had their licenses suspended for one month, without any further action taken.