Jun 20, 2022

‘Police, law enforcement too lenient to deter assaults on ER doctors’ 바로가기 기자명 Song Soo-youn 닫기 Recently, a man in his 70s assaulted a physician by wielding a sickle at an emergency room (ER) of a general hospital in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. Enraged by continued violence against healthcare professionals, the medical community blamed the police’s lukewarm response and the law enforcement’s weak punishments. The medical community criticized law enforcement for too lenient punishment on attackers of doctors. On Friday, the Korean Intern Resident Association (KIRA) said, “We sincerely hope for a quick recovery of a fellow doctor who was attacked despite his utmost dedication to saving the patient’s life.” KIRA said that violence against physicians is still prevalent, and one of the reasons is the police’s aloof attitude and the law enforcement’s lenient punishment. “Even if someone reports to the police about an assault on a doctor, the police often encourage the attacker and the victim doctor to settle,” the association said. Because Korean criminal law states that if a victim does not want to push the perpetrator, the police tend to ask the victim to have an agreement rather than suing the attacker. KIRA went on to say that the state and society should be responsible for protecting physicians from violence. “It is a time to take real actions to protect doctors,” it said. Attention should be on the fundamental change in the institutions and cultures, rather than individual cases only where people’s lives were threatened, the association emphasized. The Korean Medical Association’s branch in South Jeolla Province also issued a statement denouncing the Korean treatment environment for failing to protect physicians’ safety. “The government and the law enforcement need a strict and aggressive measure to deal with this issue,” it said. It is unacceptable under any circumstances to assault a doctor just because treatment results are not good, the KMA’s branch said. “Violence against doctors poses a significant secondary risk to the health and life of other patients who need to be treated by doctors. This can infringe the public's right to health.” The KMA branch in South Jeolla Province urged the government to take stern measures to prevent assaults against doctors and called for the law enforcement’s thorough investigation and severe punishment. The Korean Hospital Association (KHA) demanded government support to enhance security measures and punish the attacker in Yongin. “The continuing assaults, injuries, and intimidations in clinical scenes are a violent crime that threatens the lives of all Korean people. Therefore, we strongly appeal for punishment on the perpetrator,” KHA said. In particular, the association emphasized that attackers in clinical scenes should be immediately arrested with zero tolerance, regardless of their mental state. Although the government made it mandatory to hire security personnel and install an emergency bell in ER and psychiatric departments in March 2020, hospitals’ efforts have limitations to secure the safety of physicians and patients fully, the KHA went on to say. Security personnel reportedly often find it difficult to use physical force in emergencies, and hospitals lack money to hire them sufficiently. “We strongly urge the government to support hospitals to establish a firm social awareness that violence, verbal abuse, and intimidation within medical institutions are serious crimes and physicians needed protection.”