A doctor, who saw a patient in cardiac arrest while on call at night but did nothing because he was not the attending physician, has been ordered to compensate for damage to the bereaved family.

The Seoul Eastern District Court partially upheld a damages claim filed by the patient's bereaved family against the hospital, ordering it to pay 10 million won ($7,840) plus delayed interest.

The patient died on the morning of June 22, 2021, while being treated for pneumonia at a hospital from June 10. The patient’s condition improved during hospitalization but worsened three days before his death when he developed a fever, and new pneumonia was observed.

At 5:25 a.m. on June 22. a patient's caregiver in the same room informed a nurse that the patient didn’t seem to breathe. The nurse confirmed that there were no vital signs and called the physician on night duty.

The doctor came to the room, checked the patient's condition, and asked, "Why did you call me and not the attending physician?" and left the room. The nurse informed the family of the situation and the doctor again at 6:08 a.m., asking to pronounce him dead. The doctor made a death certificate at 5:45 a.m., declaring the patient dead.

The bereaved family filed a lawsuit, claiming that the on-call doctor violated his duty of care by failing to take any emergency measures, including CPR, although he saw the patient in cardiac arrest.

"The medical staff did not perform CPR because the examination showed that the patient was already dead and there was no possibility of resuscitation," the hospital argued. “The on-call doctor did not pronounce the patient dead because the guardian of the deceased patient was not present (at the time), and he did not know the cause of death, so he could not explain it or pronounce a death certificate."

However, the court did not accept this argument. It found that the doctor had not taken all the necessary steps as a physician.

A medical record appraiser also agreed.

“Unless there is an informed consent to refuse CPR and signs of irreversible death, such as purple spots or posterior torsion, healthcare providers should have administered CPR, intubated the trachea, administered medications such as epinephrine and defibrillated the victim without delay if they witnessed cardiac arrest," the appraiser said.

The patient’s doctor also negatively opposed his colleague on night duty. "I'm sorry for the deceased patient. It happened at dawn, and I'm not happy with how the on-call doctor handled it," he said.

The court ruling said, “In the event of a cardiac arrest in a hospital, CPR should be performed. Doctors and other medical personnel must decide whether to stop when they believe the patient has no chance of being resurrected. However, the on-call doctor did not perform any emergency medical treatment, including CPR, and did not record the reason in the medical record or explain it to the bereaved family."

It went on to say, “The doctor was on night duty and had professional obligations to treat patients and provide emergency medical care during the night and early morning hours in his hospital. However, in addition to failing to provide proper medical care to the deceased patient, the physician did not explain the circumstances and cause of death to the bereaved family and did not properly pronounce the patient's death as a doctor should do when a patient dies irreversibly.”

"The doctor’s conduct was so grossly negligent as to be unacceptable even to an ordinary person," the court said. “We also considered the mental distress felt by the patient, who died as a result of the doctor’s breach of his professional duty of care, and by his bereaved family.

In conclusion, the court ruled that the on-call doctor and the hospital operator should jointly compensate the bereaved family.