Gangnam District: "On-Site Inspection Conducted Before Minister's Response in Dental Death Case... Need to Improve Notification System for Clinics"

"Immediate Joint Inspection with Ministry of Food and Drug Safety Upon Learning of Incident"

On August 25, the Gangnam District Office in Seoul (Mayor: Kim Hyunki) announced that it had already completed an unannounced on-site inspection of a dental clinic in the district, related to a patient's death, before Minister of Health and Welfare Jeong Eun-kyeong responded to the National Assembly.

Gangnam-gu Office building. Courtesy of Gangnam-gu Office.

The district office emphasized that despite structural limitations in the current system, which does not have a mechanism for notifying local health centers about such accidents, it initiated the necessary actions immediately after becoming aware of the incident.

According to the district office, on August 18—three days before Minister Jeong stated at the National Assembly’s Health and Welfare Committee on August 21 that she would "check whether the health center inspected the clinic"—Gangnam District, in cooperation with the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, conducted a surprise inspection of the dental clinic and delivered the results to the Ministry of Health and Welfare on August 24. The district office explained it distributed an official clarification to clearly explain the roles of each agency and the course of the inspection, prompted by the National Assembly discussion.

The district office clarified that in both cases, the local health center was not notified at the time of the incidents. The first incident, which occurred on December 30, 2025, was not separately reported; the district first became aware of it through media coverage on January 26 of the following year. The district then immediately included the dental clinic in a joint special inspection—together with the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in February—targeting dental clinics with frequent use of medical narcotics. Regarding the second incident on August 3, the office became aware of it through media reporting on August 14; given the gravity of a similar incident recurring at the same clinic after eight months, the district promptly conducted an unannounced inspection on the morning of August 18, the first workday after the Liberation Day holiday.

The district office emphasized that these delays were not caused by negligence of the health center, but stemmed from systemic gaps. Under the current system, there is no framework requiring clinics at the primary care level to promptly notify the local health center in the event of serious incidents, such as patient deaths. The Patient Safety Act limits mandatory reporting to general hospitals or higher-level medical institutions, thus excluding clinics such as this dental practice. Even for those obligated to report, the required recipient is the Minister of Health and Welfare—not the health center.

No violations within matters overseen by local governments were discovered during the August 18 inspection. The district confirmed the handling and storage of medical narcotics, the preparation and preservation of medical records, medical licenses and qualifications, and facility standards but found no particular violations.

The district made clear that this administrative inspection is limited to verifying compliance with relevant regulations, and is distinct from any criminal investigation into the possible causal relationship between medical practice and death, or professional negligence. Since an official investigation by the relevant law enforcement authorities is currently ongoing, the district stated that, should the investigation identify grounds for administrative measures, it will take immediate action under applicable laws and regulations.

If a serious medical incident leads to an investigation, the district office announced it would request investigative authorities to promptly share relevant information with the local health center. It will also strengthen its routine inspections, converting the current biannual system to quarterly targeted inspections focused on fields closely related to patient safety.

In addition, the district will recommend to the Ministry of Health and Welfare the establishment of a system to share and promptly notify serious incidents at primary care clinics, and the extension of mandatory operating room facility requirements—which currently only apply to general anesthesia—to procedures under intravenous (sedation) anesthesia. This would include requirements for patient monitoring and emergency treatment equipment.

Meanwhile, these incidents occurred in two cases: at the end of last year and this summer. Last year, a 75-year-old woman died while receiving surgery to have 11 dental implants placed at once; the National Forensic Service determined the cause of death to be local anesthetic toxicity. Then, on August 3 of this year, a man in his 60s died of cardiac arrest during implant surgery at the same dental clinic.

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