[2026 National Audit] Over 150,000 Patient Cases Reported... Repeated Medical Accident Risks Still Missed

Assemblywoman Lee Sohui Points Out Two Deaths at Gangnam Dental Clinic Within Eight Months
Minister Jung Eunkyung: "Will Strengthen Analysis by Expanding Specialized Organizations and Personnel"

Jung Eunkyung, Minister of Health and Welfare, announced that the ministry will consider expanding the mandatory reporting of deaths occurring at clinic-level medical institutions. Currently, clinics are excluded from the list of institutions required to report serious patient safety incidents. It was recently revealed that health authorities only belatedly became aware of two patient deaths at a dental clinic in Gangnam, Seoul, which had occurred over an eight-month period.

Jung Eun-kyung, Minister of Health and Welfare, is responding to lawmakers' questions during the Health and Welfare Committee's inspection at the National Assembly on the 7th. Photo by Yonhap News.

At the Health and Welfare Committee’s national audit held at the National Assembly on October 7, in response to a question from Assemblywoman Lee Sohui of the People Power Party regarding when the authorities became aware of the incidents at the clinic and the follow-up actions taken, Minister Jung said, “Currently, clinics are not required to report such cases, so they are not included as targets for reporting,” and added, “As for when the Ministry of Health and Welfare became aware, it is difficult to provide the exact date, so I will check and confirm.”

Assemblywoman Lee pointed out that while the first death occurred at the clinic on December 30 last year and the second on August 3 this year, the public health center became aware of the incidents only 27 days and 11 days later, respectively, via media reports. She emphasized, “Just because an institution is a clinic does not mean the potential harm to patients is smaller. At the very least, deaths should be subject to mandatory reporting regardless of the size of the institution.”

Even after reporting such incidents, there appear to be limitations in detecting repeated risks within the current system. Since the enactment of the Patient Safety Act in 2016, the government has received over 150,000 reports of patient safety incidents, but because the reporting system is operated anonymously, it is difficult to determine if incidents are recurring at the same institution or to intervene preemptively at high-risk facilities.

Minister Jung stated, “I agree with the observation that if repeated incidents occur at the same institution, there may be an inherent problem within that facility which requires action.”

Assemblywoman Lee noted, “At this particular dental clinic, there have been 22 emergency (119) dispatches and 13 emergency room transfers in the past three years, and 2,380 complaints related to medical accidents have been reported to the Ministry of Health and Welfare over the past 10 years.” She then asked, “Is there a system to link and manage various risk signals for each medical institution?” Minister Jung replied, “It is difficult for me to answer as we have not fully grasped the current status.”

Assemblywoman Lee stressed, “Ensuring patient safety should not end with simply collecting reports. It is essential to learn about deaths in a timely manner, identify recurring risks, and prevent further harm.”

Minister Jung responded, “We will develop improvement measures, including the expansion of specialized organizations and personnel.”

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