The Korean Alliance for Patients with Severe Illnesses held a press conference on June 12. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jun. 13 (Korea Bizwire) – Patients with severe illnesses, including cancer, gathered in front of Seoul National University Hospital on June 12 to urge doctors to immediately call off their planned indefinite strike starting on June 17, with some groups considering filing lawsuits against the striking physicians.
At a news conference, the Korean Alliance for Patients with Severe Illnesses, comprising six organizations such as the Korea Cancer Patient Group Rights Council and the Korean Lung Cancer Survivors’ Association, stated, “Patient groups are in a position where we may receive reports not just of harm to severely ill patients, but of deaths.”
Byun In-young, the president of the Korean Pancreatic Cancer Survivors’ Association, addressed the professors who decided on the strike: “Did we choose to be sick? We simply contracted illnesses through no fault of our own, yet we are being denied even the opportunity for treatment. What are you trying to gain by putting our lives at stake?”
Expressing frustration, Byun continued, “Even as our loved ones are dying, we cannot raise our voices and can only wait for this situation to end. Yet the result is that the professors are going on a full strike, and even local hospitals are closing their doors.”
The Korean Alliance for Patients with Severe Illnesses held a press conference on June 12. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
The groups expressed concern about the spreading strike action, with professors at other major hospitals joining after Seoul National University Hospital’s lead.
Kim Sung-ju, the alliance’s president and a stage IV esophageal cancer patient, asked the professors, “Which do you prioritize: patients’ lives or your demand that unlawful disciplinary actions against resident physicians be rescinded? The common sense that recognizes the weight of these issues is collapsing among the public and doctors.”
Kim revealed that patients have been calling to ask why they do not file lawsuits against doctors who violate medical laws and refuse treatment.
“Until now, we have not considered this, but if patients continue to raise this issue, we will consider it,” he said.
He also criticized the government’s start-work order as ineffective in helping patients, stating, “Once again, patients are suffering from a medical vacuum with no recourse. To prevent this, we need laws with enforcement mechanisms, responsibilities, and punishment provisions to be enacted or revised.”
Kim Tae-hyun, the president of the Korean ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) Association, who has been battling the disease for 28 years, delivered a statement from his wheelchair: “Witnessing the doctors’ behavior akin to organized violence, I will give up relying on the medical community, an elite group that has allowed academia, morality, and common sense to crumble.”
He urged the government to “severely punish the unlawful actions of the medical community based on laws and principles” and stated, “The medical community, which has plunged the nation and its people into chaos to maintain its privileges and advocated anarchy, must no longer be forgiven.”
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
