Doctors' 'party' photos while patient gets plastic surgery spark probe in South Korea

[Annihilation]

Doctors' 'party' photos while patient gets plastic surgery spark probe in South Korea

PUBLISHED : Monday, 29 December, 2014, 5:12pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 30 December, 2014, 11:03am

Agence France-Presse in Seoul

One of the staff blows out a birthday cake while an unconscious patient is lying on the operating table. Photo: Donga News website

South Korean health authorities are investigating a plastic surgery clinic in Seoul after photographs emerged online showing medical staff partying in an operating theatre.

In one picture, posted on photo-sharing app Instagram, staff in scrubs stand around a candlelit birthday cake – with an apparently unconscious patient lying on a bed behind them.

Another picture showed a staffer, wearing a mask and a surgery gown, jokingly placing a gel breast implant over her chest in an operating room. Another showed staff posing while eating hamburgers.

The incident comes just a week after surgeons in China were punished for taking group photos while a patient was lying on an operating table.

A staffer, wearing a mask and a surgery gown, is seen jokingly placing a breast implant over her chest. Photo: asiae.co.kr

“Our officials are investigating the clinic to see if there was any violation of medical laws,” said a South Korean spokeswoman from a public health department in Seoul’s Gangnam district.

“They may look into whether such behaviour damaged the reputation of medical practitioners,” she said.

Under South Korea’s medical law, behaviour deemed to tarnish the reputation of the industry can result in suspension.

The images, posted by one staffer, drew a storm of online criticism for alleged disregard of sanitation rules and patient safety. The photographs have since been taken down.

The clinic apologised today for “careless actions” by some of its staff, whom it confirmed were doctors or assistants there.

Staffers, with their faces blocked off by Korean internet users, are pictured eating hamburgers in an operating room. Photo: thinkdifferent.tistory.com

“We are left devastated for causing such concerns among our clients … because of the senseless behaviour,” Jewelry Plastic Surgery Centre said on its website.

“We offer our deep apology... and will conduct thorough safety training for all our staff members.”

The upmarket district in southern Seoul – made famous by South Korean singer Psy’s global hit Gangnam Style – is home to high-end stores as well as hundreds of plastic surgery clinics.

Looks-obsessed South Korea is famed for its vast plastic surgery industry, with one of the highest per-capita rates of plastic surgery procedures in the world.

In a similar case a week ago, Chinese doctors were penalised for taking photos in the surgery room. Photo: www.qianzhan.com