Jeong Eun-kyung, the Minister candidate for the Ministry of Health and Welfare, noted on the 18th during a confirmation hearing at the National Assembly that she would consider introducing laws that could prevent the recurrence of medical gaps and expand patients' rights.
On the same day, Park Ju-min, the Chairperson of the Health and Welfare Committee, asked, "Patient groups have conveyed the opinion that it is necessary to pass the 'Patient Basic Law' to prevent the recurrence of conflicts between healthcare providers and patients and to systematically guarantee patient rights. What do you think?" to which the candidate responded.
The Patient Basic Law outlines that the Minister of Health and Welfare should establish and implement a basic plan regarding patient policy every five years and have a Patient Policy Committee under the Minister.
While the current Patient Safety Law focuses on patient safety and improving the quality of medical care, the aim of the Patient Basic Law is to more comprehensively guarantee patient rights, including the right to access and provide medical information and the enhancement of systems for compensating patients in cases of medical disputes.
In response, the candidate stated, "Currently, there is a law called the Patient Safety Law that falls within a somewhat narrow scope, and I believe that reviewing the Patient Safety Law and the Patient Basic Law together could be an alternative for expansion." He continued, "I will review the contents that need to be included in the basic law and discuss with the National Assembly on how to proceed with the law."
However, regarding the compensation for damages caused by medical gaps that patient groups are demanding, he remarked, "It would be realistically difficult," drawing the line.
Chairperson Park stated, "There are cases where individuals have suffered due to not receiving timely treatment or surgery due to medical gaps, and there are also businesses or professions that are struggling due to medical crises, so there are opinions that a damage investigation and compensation system is needed." He then asked, "What do you think?"
In response, the candidate said, "There might be very realistic problems in judging the scope and causality of the damages." He continued, "I understand the sentiment, but implementing it is expected to be quite difficult."
Meanwhile, on the previous day, the Korean Patient Organization Federation met with members of the Democratic Party of Korea who belong to the Health and Welfare Committee to demand improvements to the system and related legislation to prevent damages from medical gaps.