Doctor to Compensate Family of Rocker Sin Hae-cheol

A celebrity doctor who is accused of malpractice leading to the death of rock singer Sin Hae-cheol in October 2014 has been ordered to pay the bereaved family W1.59 billion in damages (US$1=W1,127).

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The family originally sued Kang Se-hoon for W4.52 billion.

Sin Hae-cheol had his stomach stapled at Kang's hospital in Seoul on Oct. 17, 2014. After the operation, Sin Hae-cheol showed symptoms of peritonitis, suffering from high fever and intense pain and died 10 days later.

Sin Hae-cheol's family argued that Kang performed additional surgery without Sin Hae-cheol's consent and neglected his duty of care by failing to treat the patient properly after the surgery. 

The Seoul Central District Court accepted that Kang failed to obtain Sin Hae-cheol's consent for the additional procedures that probably led to Sin Hae-cheol's death, which were not urgently unnecessary. "Even when Sin Hae-cheol complained of extreme pain after the surgery, Kang did not check on him properly and just prescribed painkillers and tranquilizers", the court added.

In a separate criminal trial last year, Kang was also given a two-year suspended sentence.