Dentist Fined for Posting Videos on SNS Disparaging Other Hospitals' Medical Practices

Gwangju District Court building.

A dentist has been fined for repeatedly posting videos on social networking services (SNS) that disparaged the medical practices and treatments of other hospitals.

The Criminal Division 1-1 of the Gwangju District Court (Presiding Judges Kim Yujin, Yeon Seonju, and Kim Daehyun) on November 13 dismissed the appeal of Mr. A, who was indicted on charges of violating the Medical Service Act, and upheld the original sentence of a 7 million won fine.

Mr. A, a dentist, was indicted for posting four promotional videos on his YouTube channel in 2023 that contained content disparaging other medical professionals.

He introduced treatment cases in which the hospital name and the responsible doctor could be identified, and claimed that they were "excessive treatments for profit."

In 2022, Mr. A also uploaded similar YouTube content and received an administrative order from the head of the local government to "delete the promotional videos and refrain from posting them," but he did not comply.

Mr. A argued that his actions were for the public interest, aiming to promote self-regulation within the dental industry and to protect the right of medical consumers to make their own decisions. However, both the first and second instance courts did not accept this claim.

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