KCA News & Media
Press Release
Press Release
| No. of requests for medical dispute settlement in 1Q13 more than tripled y-y | |||||
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| Date | 2013-04-29 | Hit | 2434 | ||
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No. of requests for medical dispute settlement
in 1Q13 more than tripled y-y Compensation value in total increased by over $719,000 with the biggest compensation at $296,629 To respond suitably to increasing application of medical dispute settlement, the Consumer Dispute Settlement Commission (CDSC) of the Korea Consumer Agency (Chair: Mr. Byoung-ha Jeong) has established a specialized team for medical disputes in Jan. 2013 and strengthened medical dispute settlement function prior to litigation.
As a result, number of medical dispute settlement cases applied in the first quarter of 2013 stood up 233 cases, more than three times y-y from 73 cases in 1Q12. Moreover, the rate of reaching mediation in this field stood at 68.2%, +22.7% y-y from 45.5%. Likewise, these concerted efforts began to pay off earlier than was expected.
Looking at the 155 cases of medical dispute settlement made in 1Q13, compensation decision was given to 90 cases (58.1%) of medical disputes as responsibility of medical service providers was acknowledged, 75 cases (83.3%) of which were found to be attributable to violation of a doctor’s duty of care.
Compensation amount in total reached US$1,024 thousand dollars approximately, an increase by more than $755,000 y-y from $269,000 dollars. Meanwhile, compensation amount averaged out at $10,786 per case with the biggest compensation at $296,629.
<The case of the biggest compensation> A patient (male in his forties) with late stage lung cancer was paralyzed due to neurological damage during the lung cancer operation and later passed away despite medical treatment over three years. As mistake of the medical service provider was acknowledged, compensation of $296,629 was paid based on an agreed recommendation of the CDSC Chair. It was also found that medical disputes occurred during a process of ‘operation’ (68 cases, 43.9%) and ‘treatment or procedure’ (42 cases, 27.1%). And, there were 35 medical dispute case (22.6%) involving death or disablement.
The Korea Consumer Agency began its consumer redress services in medial area in 1999 and provided a ‘one-stop’ solution of three steps (counseling-redress-settlement) to medical disputes. And, as soon as a settlement of a dispute or consumer redress is requested, the procedure in question by the KCA starts right after with or without agreement from medical service providers. And, all the procedures are provided free-of-charge to consumers, the importance of which takes its significance more as consumer dispute resolution system prior to litigation. Based on these findings, the Agency continues its efforts to strengthen its medical dispute settlement system to resolve consumers' medical damage in a more prompt, fair, and efficient manner. |
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