The leader of the Korean pediatricians’ group said the group would sue a mother who sent her 9-year-old child to a pediatric clinic alone for child abuse and neglect.

Lim Hyun-taek, president of the Korean Pediatric Association (KPA), said on his Facebook page that the KPA would file criminal charges against the guardian who sent the child to the clinic who could not communicate alone with a pediatrician.

“On behalf of the KPA, I will seek criminal charges against the person who sent a 9-year-old child who could not communicate alone to a pediatrician, for child abuse and neglect,” Lim said.

The controversy over whether a physician should see a patient younger than 14 without a guardian started when Lim shared a clinic owner’s story on his Facebook page on Sunday.

According to the post, the owner of the pediatric clinic in the Seoul metropolitan area placed a closure notice saying the doctor was devastated by a mother’s complaint with the public health center arguing that the pediatrician unfairly refused to see the 9-year-old child having a fever who did not accompany a guardian. 

KPA refused to disclose the gender of the pediatrician and the exact location of the clinic “to protect the pediatrician” from malicious online comments. 

The mother reportedly told the child to go see a doctor alone because she was busy working. 

Noticing that the young child did not have a guardian around, the pediatrician called the mother to visit the clinic with the child later that day. However, the mother went to another clinic after work. Then, she filed a complaint with the public health center saying the first clinic owner refused to see her child. 

“There were court cases that have held doctors liable for unaccompanied medical consultation (for pediatric patients), and having a guardian at the appointment is a minimum parental duty to a sick child,” the pediatrician wrote in the notice.

“The parent's spiteful complaint makes me feel very skeptical about my diligence in providing pediatric care under difficult circumstances. I can't continue with pediatric care and will switch to adult care.”