Violation of the Medical Service Act | Doctors Who Entrusted Hundreds of Proxy Surgeries to a Nursing Assistant Sentenced to Imprisonment

The circumstances of the case in which the violation of the Medical Service Act was alleged are as follows.

A, a nursing assistant working at OO Hospital, performed the role of assisting in surgeries.

The hospital director and the other doctors at this hospital entrusted the final suturing of surgeries to A.

After the doctors completed each surgery, A handled the skin suturing, and other nurses assisted with it.

In this manner, A took part in a total of 589 procedures over about four years, including cesarean sections, urinary incontinence surgeries, gynecological cosmetic surgeries (such as labiaplasty), and laparoscopic surgeries. In particular, A at times handled some surgeries, such as the gynecological cosmetic surgeries, entirely on her own.

OO Hospital concealed this unlicensed medical practice and, presenting it as though the doctors had personally performed the surgeries to the end, claimed and received approximately 840 million won in medical care benefits from the National Health Insurance Service.

The court that tried the doctors indicted on charges of violating the Medical Service Act sentenced the director of OO Hospital to two years and six months' imprisonment and a fine of 5 million won. The court sentenced the other directors at the same hospital to two years and six months' imprisonment, suspended for three years, and a fine of 3 million won, and it sentenced three doctors at the hospital to one year's imprisonment, suspended for one year, and a fine of 2 million won.

A, the nursing assistant, was also sentenced to two years and six months' imprisonment, suspended for three years, and a fine of 3 million won.

We analyzed the District Court's judgment imposing an actual custodial sentence on a hospital director who, in a matter involving violation of the Medical Service Act, induced unlicensed medical practice.

Because medical practitioners perform important work involving human life, they may be subject to severe punishment if they engage in medical practice that is not permitted.

If a person receives a severe criminal punishment, such as an actual custodial sentence or a suspended sentence, for violating the Medical Service Act, that person may face not only suspension of the doctor's qualification and suspension of operations, but also revocation of the doctor's license altogether.

Accordingly, if you have violated the Medical Service Act through unlicensed medical practice, you are welcome to resolve the matter with the assistance of a 🔗medical attorney who has legal knowledge of medical litigation and substantial experience.

At the 🔗Medical Litigation Group of Daeryun Law Firm LLP, attorneys experienced in medical litigation will provide assistance to protect the rights and interests of our clients.