Home > National > Social Affairs

Doctor sentenced to prison for patient death during cosmetic procedure

Published: 17 Nov. 2025, 09:42 Updated: 17 Nov. 2025, 12:23

[KOREA JOONGANG DAILY]

A doctor who was out on parole for an earlier offense has been sentenced to prison again for causing a patient’s death during a cosmetic procedure due to negligent medical care.

The Incheon District Court sentenced the doctor to one year and eight months in prison for professional negligence resulting in death on Sunday.

The doctor was indicted for failing to provide adequate medical care during a cosmetic procedure on a woman at a clinic in Incheon around 4 p.m. on Sept. 10 last year. The patient died as a result.

Although the patient had originally planned to receive only a filler injection, the doctor proceeded with multiple additional procedures — including a facial fat graft using abdominal fat and a neck-lifting treatment — without conducting any preliminary tests. He also administered 35 cubic centimeters (1.2 ounces) of propofol to the patient — far exceeding the appropriate dosage of 14.4 cubic centimeters — and failed to properly monitor her vital signs during the procedure.

Authorities found that he tampered with the minimum alarm setting on the pulse oximeter, complaining that the sound was too loud. As a result, he failed to notice the drop in her oxygen saturation levels. The patient began showing signs of cyanosis — a blue or purple discoloration of the skin that occurs when a person is not getting enough oxygen — about one hour and 15 minutes into the procedure and was transferred to an emergency room at another hospital, but died on Oct. 5 of the same year due to hypoxic brain damage.

During the trial, the doctor denied administering an excessive amount of propofol, but the court concluded otherwise based on an emergency referral form and nursing records, which indicated that he had indeed injected 35 cubic centimeters.

Records showed that the doctor was on parole at the time of the incident, having been released in December 2022 after serving an eight-month prison sentence for a drunk driving conviction in June of that year.

“The defendant’s professional negligence directly resulted in the victim’s death — a grave outcome,” the court said in its ruling. “He also failed to reach a settlement with the bereaved family. However, the court considered that the defendant acknowledged part of his wrongdoing and deposited 70 million won [$48,100] in the victim’s name.”

The victim’s family reportedly refused to accept the compensation.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY JANG GU-SEUL [[email protected]]