The medical staff was 'not guilty' for causing the patient's death by failing to provide first aid. Why?

Medical staff who were under police investigation for neglecting an emergency patient at a nursing hospital, causing death, were cleared of charges.

According to the police on the 11th, the Gwangju Police Agency recently decided not to send four medical staff, including Mr. A, who was suspected of causing death through professional negligence.

Previously, patient B, in his 60s, died at a nursing hospital in Gwangju Metropolitan City in 2023.

At the time, the bereaved family filed a complaint with the investigative agency, claiming that the medical staff did not provide proper emergency measures, such as CPR, when Mr. B was choking on food.

The medical staff denied the charges, saying that Mr. B was already in cardiac arrest when they discovered him.

They claimed that emergency treatment, including oxygen administration, was performed, but CPR could not be performed due to the refusal of life-sustaining treatment (DNR) consent form written by the patient's guardian.

The police determined that they were not guilty.

“It is difficult to completely rule out the possibility that the victim died from suffocation, but considering that the victim had findings such as arteriosclerosis in some parts of the cardiovascular system and that more strain is usually placed on the heart during the digestion process after a meal, the possibility of sudden cardiac death appears to be the highest.”

He added, "I believe that the medical staff can declare the victim who has a DNR consent form dead, considering the condition at the time," and added, "It was difficult for the suspects to predict the victim's cardiac arrest, and it cannot be said that there was negligence in medical treatment such as first aid."

Attorney Kim Cheol of Daeryun Law Firm, who represented Mr. A, explained, "According to precedents, DNR status means that if pulmonary or cardiac arrest unexpectedly occurs during treatment, death is accepted without performing CPR. If high-intensity pressure is applied for CPR despite a DNR consent form, it is compulsory treatment against the patient's will and may amount to assault or injury."
 

Jeong Eui-jin (jej88@ikbc.co.kr)

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Medical staff 'not guilty' of causing patient death by failing to provide first aid.. Why? (Shortcut)