Passage of CCTV bill draws mixed reactions from patient, doctor groups

 

An employee at a hospital in Dobong District, northern Seoul, looks at the monitor showing the inside of an operating room through a surveillance camera, Aug. 23. Yonhap

Surveillance cameras in operating rooms to be mandatory from 2023

By Lee Hyo-jin

A controversial bill on requiring the installation of surveillance cameras in hospital operating rooms has been approved by the National Assembly, drawing mixed reactions from patient and doctor groups.

The revision bill to the Medical Service Act was passed at a plenary session, Tuesday, in a 135 to 24 vote, with 24 abstentions.

Under the new measures, which will take effect from Aug. 30, 2023, hospitals should be equipped with closed-circuit cameras in operating rooms and must video-record surgical procedures, without audio, upon request of the patient or guardian. Audio can be recorded upon mutual consent of the medical personnel and the patient.

The recorded footage must be saved for more than 30 days. Viewing the video will be allowed upon request by an investigative body, a court, or when both the medical personnel and the patient agree.

Those accused of leaking, damaging, or falsifying footage may face up to five years of imprisonment, or a fine of up to 50 million won ($42,600).

The passage of the bill came amid growing public calls to come up with measures after a series of alleged medical malpractice cases involving proxy surgery conducted by unqualified staff, along with sexual assaults on anesthetized patients, have made headlines in recent years.

In a poll conducted in June by the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, 98 percent of the 13,959 respondents keonhacai the bill.

"I've been in support of the installment of surveillance cameras since reading the news on victims of 'ghost surgeries.' Having cameras would protect the safety of unconscious patients who are completely unaware of what's happening in the operating room," said Choi Ga-gyung, a 27-year-old office worker in Seoul.

A Gyeonggi Province resident surnamed Bang said, "The video evidence will be helpful in settling medical disputes. Patients usually have very little chance of winning medical malpractice lawsuits because it's difficult to prove the doctors' negligence."

She added, "But I think there should be some follow-up measures to prevent leakage of the footage as it would contain images of the patients exposed."

The revision bill to the Medical Services Act on mandatory installment of surveillance cameras in hospital operating rooms is being passed at the National Assembly's plenary session on Yeouido, Seoul, Aug. 31. Yonhap

The Korea Alliance of Patients Organization, a civic groups representing patients, welcomed the passage of the bill calling it "the result of six years and seven months of efforts for legislation."

Bills requiring cameras in operating rooms had been proposed multiple times since 2016, but to no avail, in the 19th and 20th National Assemblies.

"The revision bill will make operating theaters a safer environment for the patients," read a statement released from the organization.

Though, the group viewed that further discussions should be made on some details of the new bill, such as the clause giving doctors the right to refuse video recording if they have valid reasons, such as in the case of urgent or high-risk operations.

"The Korea Consumer Agency should also be included in the list of organizations that can request to view the camera footage," said Ahn Ki-jong, head of the patient's organization.

The Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice also welcome the measure, but it insisted that patients should be guaranteed easier accessibility to video footage, without a request from an investigative body or consent of medical staff.

On the contrary, a doctors' group, who has fiercely opposed the installment of cameras, is seeking to take legal actions to block the implementation of the bill.

They argue that monitoring doctors in operating theaters will undermine trust between physicians and patients, while raising concerns over violation of human rights and privacy in the case of possible leakage of the footage.

Lee Pil-soo, president of the Korean Medical Association, stages a protest in front of the National Assembly, Aug. 30, against the revision bill to the Medical Service Act that requires the installation of surveillance cameras in hospital operating rooms.

"We express our deepest anger and grief over the atrocious law," read a statement released from the 130,000-member Korea Medical Association (KMA), the largest doctors' group in the country. "The government and the ruling party have pushed ahead with the bill that treats a vast majority of law-abiding doctors as potential criminals."

The KMA has warned it will take every possible action to revoke the revision bill during the two year grace period, such as by filing a petition to the Constitutional Court, in order to protect the rights of its members.

A coalition of surgeons also voiced worries that installment of cameras may make surgeons avoid performing high-risk surgical procedures, leaving patients helpless without treatment.

"Surgeons will think that the video records will be a disadvantage to them in the event of medical disputes. This idea may make them perform passive and overly safe medical procedures only to the extent that can be filmed," it said.