• Korean Journal of Oriental Medicine
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.19-28
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• 2009

Objectives : The lawsuits associated with medical practice in Korean medicine are increasing gradually. However, the clear definition for medical practice in Korean medicine has not been existed in Korean law. Only we may understand the concept regulated by judicial precedents of the court of justice or the authoritative interpretation by the government. Methods : For study, a database was established for medical lawsuits involving Korean medicine(1968~2009, n=130). Results : According to court rulings, the medical practice in Korean medicine is an act to diagnose a person's illness, prescribe and treat to cure based on traditional Korean medicine, to be understood as a medical care, to have some factor to create or increase danger for the preservation of health or hygiene, and to be practiced by medical specialists based on their professional knowledge. Conclusions : But, such definition is not proper and exceedingly vague. Besides medical circumstances Koreans Medicine are changing, and new precedent to the definition of the practice of medicine is establishing. Therefore the meaning and scope of the medical practice in Korean medicine should be modified and amended, reflecting these conditions.

• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.95-100
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• 2000

This is a study to evaluate the effects of the safety of ambulance driving and traffic accidents and to provide statistic information for the various factors to reduce the ambulance traffic accidents. The major instruments of this study were Korean Self-Analysis Driver Opinionnaire. This Questionnaire contains 8 items which measure drivers' opinions or attitudes: driving courtesy, emotion, traffic law, speed, vehicle condition, the use of drugs, high-risk behavior, human factors. The total of 145 divers were investigated ambulance drivers in Taejon City and others(6 City) from 2000. 5. July to 2000. 11. July. The data were analyzed by the path analysis - with SPSS and AMOS package program. The result are as follows : 1. It have suggested that risk factors of ambulance traffic accident much affected with emotion and speed control on safety ambulance driving(Y(Accident) = $0.88{\times}1$(Emotion Control) + $0.92{\times}2$(Speed) - $0.46{\times}3$(Traffic Law)+E). 2. It have suggested that risk factors of ambulance traffic accident much affected with emotion and speed control on safety ambulance driving(Y(Accident) = $0.398{\times}1$(Emotion Control) + $0.500{\times}2$(Speed) - $0.263{\times}3$(Traffic Law)+E) by coefficiecial structural analysis.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.199-247
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• 2012

According to the review and analysis of medical cases that are assigned to the Supreme Court and all local High Court in 2011 and that are presented in the media, it was found that the following categories were taken seriously, medical and pharmaceutical product liability, the third principle of trust between medical institutions, negligence and causation estimation, responsibility limit, the meaning of medical records and related judgment of disturbed substantiation, Oriental doctors' duties to explain the procedures, IMS events, whether one can claim for each medical care operated by non-physician health care institutions to the nonmedical domain in the National Health Insurance Corporation, and the basis of norms for each claim. In the cases related to medical pharmaceutical product liability, Supreme Court alleviated burden of proof for accidents with medical and pharmaceutical products prior to the practice of Product Liability Law and onset the point of negative prescription as the time of damage strikes to condition feasibility of the specific situation. In the cases related to the 3rd principle of trust between medical institutions, the Supreme Court refused to sentence the doctor who has trusted the judgment of the same third-party doctors the violations of the care duty. With respect to proof of a causal relationship and damages in a medical negligence case, the Supreme Court decided that it is unjust to deny negligence by the materials of causal relationship rejecting the original verdict and clarified that the causal relationship shall not deny the reasons to limit doctors' responsibilities. In order not put burden on patients with disadvantages in which medical records and the description of the practice or the most fundamental and important evidence to prove negligence and causation are being neglected, the Supreme Court admitted in the hospital's responsibility for the case of the neonate death of suffocation without properly listed fetal heart rate and uterine contraction monitor. On the other hand, the Seoul Western District Court has admitted alimony for altering and forging medical records. With respect to doctors' obligations to description, the Supreme Court decided that it is necessary to explain the foreseen risks by the combination of oriental and western medicines emphasizing the right of patient's self-determination. However, questions have arisen whether it is realistically feasible or not. In a case of an unlicensed doctor performing intramuscular stimulation treatment (IMS), the Supreme Court put off its decision if it was an unlicensed medical practice as to put limitation of eastern and western medical practices, but it declared that IMS practice was an acupuncture treatment therefore the plaintiff's conduct being an illegal act. In the future, clear judgment on this matter should be made. With respect to the claim of bills from non-physical health care institutions, the Supreme Court decided to void it for the implementation of the arrangement is contrary to the commitments made in the medical law and therefore, it is invalid to claim. In addition, contrast to the private healthcare professionals, who are subject to redemption according to the National Healthcare Insurance Law, the Seoul High Court explicitly confirmed that the non-professionals who receive the tort operating profit must return the unjust enrichment and have the liability for damages. As mentioned above, a relatively wide range of topics were discussed in medical field of 2011. In Korea's health care environment undergoing complex changes day by day, it is expected to see more diverse and in-depth discussions striding out to the development in the field of health care.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.275-307
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• 2010

In the presidential new-year address in January 2, 2009, the President declared that 17 kinds of new driving force of growth that could create high-added value be selected to step up job creation and an increase in national wealth. The Ministry of Strategy & Finance announced plans for the 17 kinds of new driving force of growth after the presidential address. Specifically, that ministry announced an ambitious plan to select health care service named 'Global Health Care' as one of the five service industries that could create high-added value in a move to provide jobs to approximately 7,000 people and produce pervasive economic effects coming up to a trillion and 10 billion won. To attain the goal, several action plans were mapped out to globalize domestic medical institutions, to rearrange the relevant law and system for the purposes of raising awareness of domestic medical institutions among foreign patients and improving their accessibility and post-satisfaction level, and to lure lots of foreign patients through financial assistance. At the same time, the government announced plans to lure severe patients such as those in want of surgery or organ transplant, cancer patients or patients with heart diseases to create high-added value on a long-term basis. Thus, the government announced that it planned to formulate such strategies and to enter an agreement with foreign governments to attract plenty of foreign patients. In fact, however, there are little full-scale evaluation of medical tourism though it's been a year since it was introduced, and there are few actual efforts to implement what the government announced, either. According to the results of the evaluation of medical tourism, domestic hospitals are said to undergo little significant changes after the introduction of medical tourism, which shows that they take a dim view of medical tourism instead of having expectations for that. The medical tourism industries in major Asian countries have been dynamized, and there are several factors of their success. First of all, they are successful in creating new market opportunities by incorporating related industries such as medicine, tourism and IT and in developing medical tourism products and differentiated marketing by taking advantage of their competitive edge. They have offered full-fledged assistance to this sector, and another reason is the improved international credibility of their medical service. If our country fails to pinpoint our problems in consideration of the cases of the Asian countries or to provide appropriate financial aid, our country is bound to lag behind them. Given this reality, how to assess medical tourism and what challenges this sector is confronted with are discussed.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.227-261
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• 2015

Cooperative associations are established in order to enhance the rights and the interests of their members and serve the local communities, and actually do much for the local society. And among these, consumer cooperatives are spontaneously founded, particularly in the spirit of mutual help, in order to promote the common welfare of the members. Meanwhile, because the current medical law qualifys noncommercial corporation to open medical institution, consumer cooperative and noncommercial- corporation cooperative which are established under the Cooperative Act have the right to do. However, though cooperative association should be founded for common interests of the members who are weaker parties of society, it became rapidly to be abused as means of circumvention of law. Especially as National Health Insurance Corporation stepped up the investigation and the collection of unfair profits against the hospital owned by non-medical personnel who are unable to establish a medical institution, setting up medical institutions as a roundabout way to avoid the restricts dramatically increased in number. In this study, we are going to introduce the current dualised normative system regulating the establishment of a medical cooperative association, and find a way to improve the system and make up for the week points. And we will look though the present situation about medical cooperative association's opening, operating, and closing, and review the normative and systematic improving plans.

• 대한예방의학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2001.10a
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• pp.166-167
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• 2001

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.57-127
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• 2008

In medical malpractice lawsuits, negligence is generally defined as conduct that is culpable because it falls short of what a reasonable person would do to protect another individual from a foreseeable risks of harm. Thus, the essence of negligence is a breach of obligations to be attentive, and the breach of obligations to be is negligence. However, whether negligence is or not depends on time, place, litigation forms and the judge since the meaning of negligence is wavering on the basis of abstract and normative judgment. In this thesis, what is medical negligence, a breach of obligations of attention for a doctor in medical malpractice lawsuits, would be it further enacted that doctors have the responsibility to protect the patients as a subordinate duty due to a principle of faith and sincerity besides the main duty for medical contract-performance since the suit is a litigation form to be based on responsibilities of experts, especially doctors, though having factors that are non-contractual as a trait for medical treatment. Further on the concept, when the plaintiff asserts and proves a specific fact from the recent moderation of the burden of proof about medical malpractices, whether the court should find a true bill in medical malpractice actually or not has been discussed.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.115-139
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• 2012

Civil proceedings, surveyed results and medical expenses that are evidenced by expert witness are just one of the methods of proof. Since a judge makes decision by synthesizing all evidences on a concerned case, thus the judgement would be different from that of expert witness. It is not rational for medical institutions, of which priorities are medical treatment, to give priority to disability decision. However, despite of its importance, medical institutions less recognize about the necessity of procedural stability and predictability in expert valuation. It is necessary to identify actual problems and investigate rational alternatives to acquire fairness in valuation procedures and accuracy in calculating future medical expenses. Therefore, this research explores the problems and realities of evaluation process in medical treatments, and then discuss the alternatives of written expert opinion and estimation of future medical expenses.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.255-288
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• 2015

It is desirable to prevent medical accidents because they bring about irretrievable outcomes to patients, as they are directly related to each patient's life, and health. However, once medical accidents occur, it is appropriate to resolve them quickly without conflict before the feelings of directly involved people are intensely confronted with each other. Korea Consumer Agency carries out medical dispute mediation to address such disputes quickly, fairly, and efficiently, and so does Korea Medical Dispute Mediation and Arbitration Agency. Although there has been constant debate on a merge between the two agencies because of duplicated work and consequent inefficiency, it is desirable to maintain the two agencies to ensure consumers' options and to promote the mutual development of the agencies through competition. Therefore, there should be legal and systematical support for Korea Consumer Agency to have fair competition with Korea Medical Dispute Mediation and Arbitration Agency. This is not for Korea Consumer Agency, but ultimately for consumers.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.133-162
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• 2019

Due to the nature of medical malpractice lawsuits, it is difficult for medical consumers, who are weak in getting information when it comes to health care problem, to secure all information inside the hospital. Even if you are confident about the hospital infection, it is true that people have difficult to obtain medical testimony by expert. It is seen as no easy task to testify to the malpractice of colleagues who work in the same field not only in our country but also abroad, when a doctor gives negative testimony to another doctor in a medical malpractice lawsuit. Although few health care providers will be motivated to take medical care from the outset, testimony or statements from a medical practitioner can have a significant impact on the outcome of a lawsuit, as it is impossible for the patient to control or be aware of the whole process of medical conduct, especially in the event of a hospital infection and the victim. If the hospital can prove the causality of damages caused by negligence of the employees or supervision of the hospital itself in a medical suit caused by the infection, the level of protection of the victim could be raised further. We sought to find a solution to these problems by looking at the provisions of other laws related to hospital infection. In particular, as the comparative legal review regarding hospital infection, Germany's legislative precedent sets a medical contract as a typical civil law contract, so it is thought that looking at German civil law regulations also has implications for Korean law. We also tried to improve the French Special Act 'rights of patients' and we can look at the consequent changes in court cases. Finally, the content of the U.S. case's and the theory of 'the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur' in relation to it show that doctors and hospitals have been forced to shift the burden of proof through this theory. This paper tried to find out the implications of mitigating the burden of proof by reviewing various issues that might be related to medical litigation of hospital infection from a comparative point of view.