"'Operating Room CCTV' Surgical Community: 'Defensive Surgery Will Increase Due to Medical Dispute Concerns... Repeal the Bill'"

Five surgical societies have expressed opposition to the bill mandating the installation of closed-circuit (CC) TV in operating rooms. The photo is unrelated to any specific expression in the article. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Park] Five surgical societies have urged the withdrawal of the bill mandating the installation of closed-circuit (CC) TVs in operating rooms.

On the 29th, five surgical societies, including the Korean Surgical Society (hereinafter referred to as the surgical societies), issued a joint emergency statement, claiming, "(Doctors) will perform only the minimum defensive surgeries to prepare for medical disputes, which will lower patient survival and recovery rates."

They stated, "When the boundary between normal tissue and cancer is unclear, surgeons attempt complete resection based on their judgment. If this process is recorded and perceived as disadvantageous to doctors, there will be a tendency to avoid aggressive resection," adding, "Emergency surgeries or high-risk surgeries will be avoided, leading to severe patient concentration in tertiary hospitals, and the number of deaths due to not receiving timely surgeries will increase."

The surgical societies expressed concerns about the bill’s side effects, such as reduced concentration of medical staff and leakage of recordings. They said, "The information obtained from CCTV recordings related to surgeries is limited, so it practically does not help patients but only disrupts the surgeon’s concentration during surgery," and "During the process of recording and managing numerous operating rooms with CCTV, secondary damage to patients may occur due to leakage of recordings caused by misconduct of some staff or hacking."

Furthermore, the surgical societies appealed, "Recording operating rooms with CCTV increases the likelihood of becoming a potential party to medical disputes, and in the future, there may come a day when there are not enough surgeons nationwide to perform surgeries."

Meanwhile, this emergency statement was jointly issued by the Korean Surgical Society, the Korean Neurosurgical Society, the Korean Society for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, the Korean Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and the Korean Urological Association.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.