• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.153-185
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• 2020

In principle, even if serious consequences such as death or serious injury of a patient occur as a result of a medical accident, if the medical malpractice of a health care worker is not recognized, the health care worker is not held liable for said consequences. However, with the opening of the Korea Medical Dispute Mediation and Arbitration Agency on April 7, 2012, a system was established to compensate health care personnel for their medical malpractices only in the case of "injuries caused by medical accidents in the course of childbirth" (hereinafter referred to as "program for compensation of medical accidents"). Article 46 paragraph 1 of the current Medical Dispute Mediation Act, which is the basis of the Force Majeure Medical Accident Compensation System, stipulates that "medical accidents under delivery" claims are to be determined by the Medical Accident Compensation Review Committee are subject to the compensation project. And the details of the compensation, ratio of sharing financial resources for compensation, scope of compensation, and the guidelines and procedure for the payment of compensations are prescribed by Presidential Decree. In other words, the Presidential Decree requires the state to pay 70 percent of the compensation funds, and 30 percent of the above funds among health care providers. The Constitutional Court has decided on the 2015Hun-Ga13 that the scope of the health care institution's founders and the share of the compensation funds cannot be directly determined by the law, and that the portion delegated by the Presidential decree does not violate the Principle of Legal Protection nor Comprehensive Nondelegation Doctrine. However, this can be seen as an exclusion of accountability for force-induced delivery accidents even if there is no negligence of the medical staff. If the nature of the system is a type of social security system with a social compensatory nature, it could consider eliminating the health care innovator's cost-sharing provisions, leaving the full cost to the state. However, it is also necessary to review institutional protocols that strengthen the efforts of medical institutions in areas such as analysis of the causes of medical accidents and measures to prevent their recurrence. In addition, I think that the conclusion of the Act is in line with the purpose of the Comprehensive Wage Support Regulations that at minimum the law sets an upper limit of the compensation funds that are to be paid by health and medical institutions. Moreover, it is reasonable for the Medical Accident Compensation Review Committee to specify gestational age and weight of births, which are the criteria for compensation, under the Enforcement Decree of the Medical Dispute Mediation Act, in relation to the criteria for payment of contributions by the Medical Accident Compensation Review Committee, and to set the detailed criteria.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.753-759
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• 2007

Statement of problem. In distal extension removable partial denture, the preservation of health of abutment teeth is very important, but abutment teeth are subjected to unfavorable stress under unilateral loading specially. Purpose. The purpose of this study was to investigate the biomechanical effects of mandibular removable partial dentures with various prosthetic designs under unilateral loading, using strain gauge analysis. Material and methods. Artificial teeth of both canines were anchored bilaterally in a mandibular edentulous model made of resin. Bilateral distal extension removable partial dentures with splinted and unsplinted abutments were fabricated. Group 1: Clasp-retained mandibular removable partial denture with unsplinted abutments Group 2: Clasp-retained mandibular removable partial denture with splinted abutments by 6-unit bridge. Group 3: Bar-retained mandibular removable partial denture Strain gauges were bonded on the labial plate of the mandibular resin model, approximately 2 mm dose to the abutments. Two unilateral vertical experimental loadings (30N and 100N) were applied subsequently via miniature load cell that were placed at mandibular left first molar region. Strain measurements were performed and simultaneously monitored from a computer connected to data acquisition system. For within-group evaluations, t-test was used to compare the strain values and for between-group comparisons, a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used and Tukey test was used as post hoc comparisons. Results. The strain values of group 1 and 2 were tensile under loadings. In contrast, strain values of group 3 were compressive in nature. Strain values increased as the applied load in increased from 30N to 100N (p<.05) except for right side in group 1. Under 30N loading, in left side, group 1 showed higher strain values than groups 2 and 3 in absolute quantity (p<.05). And group 2 showed higher strain values than group 1 (p<.05). In right side, group 1 and 2 showed higher strain values than group 3 in absolute quantity (p<.05). Under 100N loading in left side, group 1 showed higher strain values than groups 2 and 3 in absolute quantity (p<.05). And group 2 showed higher strain values than group 1 (p<.05). In right side, group 1 and 2 showed higher strain values than group 3 in absolute quantity (p<.05). Under 30N loading, group 2 and 3 showed higher strain values in right side than in left side. Under 100N loading, right side strain values were higher than left side ones for all groups. Conclusion. Splinting of two isolated abutments by bridge reduced the peri-abutment strain in comparison with unsplinted abutments under unilateral loading. Bar-retained removable partial denture showed the lowest strain of three groups, and compressive nature.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.67-101
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• 2023

The utilization of generative AI in the medical field is also being rapidly researched. Access to vast data sets reduces the time and energy spent in selecting information. However, as the effort put into content creation decreases, there is a greater likelihood of associated issues arising. For example, with generative AI, users must discern the accuracy of results themselves, as these AIs learn from data within a set period and generate outcomes. While the answers may appear plausible, their sources are often unclear, making it challenging to determine their veracity. Additionally, the possibility of presenting results from a biased or distorted perspective cannot be discounted at present on ethical grounds. Despite these concerns, the field of generative AI is continually advancing, with an increasing number of users leveraging it in various sectors, including biomedical and life sciences. This raises important legal considerations regarding who bears responsibility and to what extent for any damages caused by these high-performance AI algorithms. A general overview of issues with generative AI includes those discussed above, but another perspective arises from its fundamental nature as a large-scale language model ('LLM') AI. There is a civil law concern regarding "the memorization of training data within artificial neural networks and its subsequent reproduction". Medical data, by nature, often reflects personal characteristics of patients, potentially leading to issues such as the regeneration of personal information. The extensive application of generative AI in scenarios beyond traditional AI brings forth the possibility of legal challenges that cannot be ignored. Upon examining the technical characteristics of generative AI and focusing on legal issues, especially concerning the protection of personal information, it's evident that current laws regarding personal information protection, particularly in the context of health and medical data utilization, are inadequate. These laws provide processes for anonymizing and de-identification, specific personal information but fall short when generative AI is applied as software in medical devices. To address the functionalities of generative AI in clinical software, a reevaluation and adjustment of existing laws for the protection of personal information are imperative.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.1265-1276
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• 1998

Background : Nitric oxide(NO) is an endogenously produced free radical that plays an important role in regulating vascular tone, inhibition of platelet aggregation and white blood cell adhesion to endothelial cells, and host defense against infection. The highly reactive nature of NO with oxygen radicals suggests that it may either promote or reduce oxidant-induced cell injury in several biological pathways. Oxidant injury and interactions between pulmonary vascular endothelium and leukocytes are important in the pathogenesis of acute lung injury, including acute respiratory distress syndrome(ARDS). In ARDS, therapeutic administration of NO is a clinical condition providing exogenous NO in oxidant-induced endothelial injury. The role of exogenous NO from NO donor or the suppression of endogenous NO production was evaluated in oxidant-induced endothelial injury. Method : The oxidant injury in cultured rat lung microvascular endothelial cells(RLMVC) was induced by hydrogen peroxide generated from glucose oxidase(GO). Cell injury was evaluated by $^{51}$chromium($^{51}Cr$) release technique. NO donor, such as S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine(SNAP) or sodium nitroprusside(SNP), was added to the endothelial cells as a source of exogenous NO. Endogenous production of NO was suppressed with N-monomethyl-L-arginine(L-NMMA) which is an NO synthase inhibitor. L-NMMA was also used in increased endogenous NO production induced by combined stimulation with interferon-$\gamma$(INF-$\gamma$), tumor necrosis factor-$\alpha$(TNF-$\alpha$), and lipopolysaccharide(LPS). NO generation from NO donor or from the endothelial cells was evaluated by measuring nitrite concentration. Result : $^{51}Cr$ release was $8.7{\pm}0.5%$ in GO 5 mU/ml, $14.4{\pm}2.9%$ in GO 10 mU/ml, $32.3{\pm}2.9%$ in GO 15 mU/ml, $55.5{\pm}0.3%$ in GO 20 mU/ml and $67.8{\pm}0.9%$ in GO 30 mU/ml ; it was significantly increased in GO 15 mU/ml or higher concentrations when compared with $9.6{\pm}0.7%$ in control(p < 0.05; n=6). L-NMMA(0.5 mM) did not affect the $^{51}Cr$ release by GO. Nitrite concentration was increased to $3.9{\pm}0.3\;{\mu}M$ in culture media of RLMVC treated with INF-$\gamma$ (500 U/ml), TNF-$\alpha$(150 U/ml) and LPS($1\;{\mu}g/ml$) for 24 hours ; it was significantly suppressed by the addition of L-NMMA. The presence of L-NMMA did not affect $^{51}Cr$ release induced by GO in RLMVC pretreated with INF-$\gamma$, TNF-$\alpha$ and LPS. The increase of $^{51}Cr$ release with GO(20 mU/ml) was prevented completely by adding 100 ${\mu}M$ SNAP. But the add of SNP, potassium ferrocyanate or potassium ferricyanate did not protect the oxidant injury. Nitrite accumulation was $23{\pm}1.0\;{\mu}M$ from 100 ${\mu}M$ SNAP at 4 hours in phenol red free Hanks' balanced salt solution. But nitrite was not detectable from SNP upto 1 mM The presence of SNAP did not affect the time dependent generation of hydrogen peroxide by GO in phenol red free Hanks' balanced salt solution. Conclusion : Hydrogen peroxide generated by GO causes oxidant injury in RLMVC. Exogenous NO from NO donor prevents oxidant injury, and the protective effect may be related to the ability to release NO. These results suggest that the exogenous NO may be protective on oxidant injury to the endothelium.

• BMB Reports
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.755-762
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• 2005

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infects more than 90% of the world's population and has a potential oncogenic nature. A histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, trichostatin A (TSA), has shown potential ability in cancer chemoprevention and treatment, but its effect on EBV-infected Akata cells has not been examined. This study investigated the effect of TSA on the proliferation and apoptosis of the cells. TSA inhibited cell growth and induced cytotoxicity in the EBV infected Akata cells. TSA treatment sensitively induced apoptosis in the cell, which was demonstrated by the increased number of positively stained cells in the TUNEL assay, the migration of many cells to the sub-$G_0/G_1$ phase in flow cytometric analysis, and the ladder formation of genomic DNA. Western blot analysis showed that caspase-dependent pathways are involved in the TSA-induced apoptosis of EBV-infected Akata cells. Overall, this study shows that EBV-infected B lymphomas are quite sensitive to TSA-provoked apoptosis.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.211-237
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• 2014

Because of unpredictability and high possibility of abnormal results by clinical trials compared to general medical behaviors, a procedure for ensuring with sufficient explanations by investigators must be secured. Therefore, in a sequence of clinical trials, what kinds of scope, stage, and method of explanations provided by investigators, including doctors or researchers, to trial subjects are closely related to the compensation for damages by violation of liability for explanation. In case of application of clinical trials to patients who have critical illness such as cancer, issues of "Quality of Life" regarding trial subjects, cancer patients, should be discussed. Especially, in case of clinical trials for terminal cancer patients, the right of subjects' self-determination, which is a fundamental principle in medical behaviors, should be discussed. The right of self-determination includes participation in clinical trials for the possibility of life-sustaining even a little bit, or no participation in clinical trials in order to have a time for completing the rest of his life. Like this, if the extent and scope of explanations related to the issues of "Quality of Life" are raised as main issues, the evaluation of "Quality of Life", should be a prerequisite. In many occasions, realistically, despite bad results such as deaths or serious adverse drug reactions after clinical trials, it may not be easy for compensating to trial subjects or their survivors, who requested civil compensation for damage. Futhermore, in abnormal results after concealment of clinical trials or performance of clinical trials without permission, and in the case of trial subjects' failures of proving proximate cause between the clinical trials and abnormal results, problematic results such as no protection to the trial subjects could be occurred. In performing clinical trials, investigators should provide sufficient explanations for trial subjects and secure voluntary informed consents from the trial subjects. Therefore, clinical trials without trial subjects' permissions and the informed consent process violate trial subjects' rights of self-determination, and the investigators shall be liable for compensation for damages. Then, issues might be addressed are what are essential contents of patients' "rights of self-determination" infringed by clinical trials without subjects' permissions. Two perspectives about patients' rights of self-determination might be considered. One perspective regards physical distress of patients (subjects) from therapies without sufficient explanations as the crux of the matter. The other perspective regards infringement of human dignity caused by being subjects without permission as the crux of the matter irrespective of risks' big and small influences. This research follows perspective of the latter. Forming constant fiduciary relation between investigators (doctors) and subjects (patients) pursuant medical contracts, and in accordance with this fiduciary relation, subjects, who are patients, have expectations of explanations and treatments by the best ways. If doctors and patients set this forth as a premise, doctors should assume civil liability when doctors infringe patients' expectations.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.61-77
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• 2005

Statement of problem. The implant prosthesis has been utilized in various clinical cases thanks to its increase in scientific effective application. The relevant implant therapy should have the high success rate in osseointegration, and the implant prosthesis should last for a long period of time without failure. Resorption of the peri-implant alveolar bone is the most frequent and serious problem in implant prosthesis. Excessive concentration of stress from the occlusal force and biopressure around the implant has been known to be the main cause of the bone destruction. Therefore, to decide the location and angulation of the implant is one of the major considering factors for the stress around the implant fixture to be dispersed in the limit of bio-capacity of load support for the successful and long-lasting clinical result. Yet, the detailed mechanism of this phenomenon is not well understood. To some extent, this is related to the paucity of basic science research. Purpose. The purpose of this study is to perform the stress analysis of the implant prosthesis in the partially edentulous mandible according to the different nature locations and angulations using three dimensional finite element method. Material and methods, Three 3.75mm standard implants were placed in the area of first and second bicuspids, and first molar in the mandible Thereafter, implant prostheses were fabricated using UCLA abutments. Five experimental groups were designed as follows : 1) straight placement of three implants, 2) 5$^{\circ}$ buccal and lingual angulation of straightly aligned three implants, 3) 10$^{\circ}$ buccal and lingual angulation of straightly aligned three implants. 4) lingual offset placement of three implants, and 5) buccal offset placement of three implants. Average occlusal force with a variation of perpendicular and 30$^{\circ}$ angulation was applied on the buccal cusp of each implant prosthesis, followed by the measurement of alteration and amount of stress on each configurational implant part and peri-implant bio-structures. The results of this study are extracted from the comparison between the distribution of Von mises stress and the maximum Von mises stress using three dimensional finite element stress analysis for each experimental group. Conclusion. The conclusions were as follows : 1. Providing angulations of the fixture did not help in stress dispersion in the restoration of partially edentulous mandible. 2. It is beneficial to place the fixture in a straight vertical direction, since bio-pressure in the peri-implant bone increases when the fixture is implanted in an angle. 3. It is important to select an appropriate prosthodontic material that prevents fractures, since the bio-pressure is concentrated on the prosthodontic structures when the fixture is implanted in an angle. 4. Offset placement of the fixtures is effective in stress dispersion in the restoration of partially edentulous mandible.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.127-133
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• 2013

Objectives: Infererior alveolar nerve (IAN) damage may be one of the distressing complications occurring during implant placement. Because of nature of closed injury, a large proportion is approached non-invasively. The purpose of this study was to analyze the outcomes of conservative management of the injured nerve during dental implant procedure. Materials and Methods: Sixty-four patients of implant related IAN injury, who were managed by medication or observation from January 1997 to March 2007 at the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Seoul National University Dental Hospital, were retrospectively investigated. The objective tests and subjective evaluations were performed to evaluate the degree of damage and duration of sensory disturbance recovery. Tests were performed on the day of the first visit and every two months afterward. Patient's initial symptoms, proximity of the implant to the IAN, time interval between implant surgery and the first visit to our clinic, and treatment after implant surgery were analyzed to determine whether these factors affected the final outcomes. Results: Among the 64 patients, 23 had a chief complaint of sensory disturbance and others with dysesthesia. The mean time until first visit to our hospital after the injury was 10.9 months.One year after nerve injury, the sensation was improved in 9 patients, whereas not improved in 38 patients, even 4 patients experienced deterioration. Better prognosis was observed in the group of patients with early visits and with implants placed or managed not too close to the IAN. Conclusion: Nearly 70% of patients with IAN injury during implant placement showed no improvement in sensation or dysesthesia with the conservative management. Earlier decision for active treatment needs to be considered because of possibility of deterioration of symptoms and unsatisfactory recovery.

• Journal of Technologic Dentistry
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.89-112
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• 2000

Although dental laboratory technicians are prone to be exposed to various work-related health hazardous materials such as dusts, chemicals, etc., the prevalence and nature of work-related health problems of them have not been a matter of great concern in the field of occupational health service in Korea. The purpose of the present investigation was to describe a collected profile of subjective health symptoms and their attributable factors in Korean dental laboratory technicians. A questionnaire listing five groups of health symptoms and five health symptom-related factors was mailed to randomly selected 1,900 dental laboratory technicians. Among them, 1,344 dental laboratory technicians filled out the questionnaires and returnde them. Five groups of health symptoms included musculoskeletal symptom, dermal symptoms, respiratory symptoms, eys symptoms, and ear symptoms. Five health symptom-related factors were occupational environment-related health risk factors, work history, health related habits and status, use of personal protective equipment and general characteristics. Detailed parameters of health risk factors were work posture, vibration, and chemical or physical hazards such as dust, fume, vapor, solvent, light, and noise for occupational environment-related factors; work place, area, number of employees, work hours, career, work part, and work load for work history; Broca's index, hours of sleep, eating, smoking, alcohol, exercise, health examination, and self assessed health status for health habits and status; face masks, goggles, and so on for use of personal protective equipment, and; age, sex, marital status, and education for general characteristics. Before the start of main survey, a pilot survey was carried out for validity and reliability tests of the questionnaire. All the data obtained were coded and analyzed with PC/SAS 6.12 program. The prevalence of health symptoms was the highest in musculoskelton (87.3%), and followde by eyes (78.9%), respiratory organs (64.3%), ears (57.8%), and skin (52.2%) in descending order. Statistically significant risk factors by multiple logistic regression analyses were sex, health examination, self assessed health status, and hand/finger posture in musculoskeletal symptoms; sex, self assessed health status, career, acid gas, and hand contact with resin mixture in deraml symptoms; Broka's smoking, exercise, self assessed health status, and face mask in respiratory symptoms; sex, hours of sleep, self assessed health status, work hours, work load, plaster dust, inadequate lighting, and goggle in eys symptoms, and eating, smoking, self assessed health status, and work load in ear symptoms. With the above considerations in mind, prevalence of subjective symptoms among Korean dental laboratory technicians was relatively high, and they were attributable to most of the occupational environment-related factors, work history, use of personal protective equipment, health habits and status, and general characteristics. Particularly, it is suggested that health promotion programs for promoting self- assessed health status and smoking cessation, preventive measures for protection of the female technicians’health, and reducing work load be necessary, since those factors were associated with more than one subjective symptom.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.526-552
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• 1994

The extent and direction of movement of removable partial dentures during function are influenced by the nature of the supporting structures and and the design of the prosthesis. Since forces are transmitted to the abutment teeth through occlusal rests, guide planes and direct retainers during functional movements, proper design based on the avaialble research data will maintain the health of abutment teeth and their supporting structures. The purpose of this in vitro study is evaluating stress distribution clinically around the abutment teeth prepared following 4-type clasping systems for unilateral free-end removable partial dentures. Three-Dimensional Photoelastic Stress Analysis method was used because it shows a visual display of stresses of the simulated abutment teeth and residual ridges and reveals stress concentration that can be read at any given points in terms of direction and magnitude. For this study, the author fabricated 4 mandibular photoelastic epoxy models missing left 1st and End molar. Epoxy models were duplicated and 4 unilateral removable partial dentures were construe- ted in accordance with 4-type direct retainers. Unilateral free-end removable partial dentures were positioned on their own models. 6kg force was loaded on the every removable partial dentures of the epoxy model on the central fossa of mandibular left 1st molar vertically by the loading device. After the stress was frozen in a stress freezing furnace, 6 specimens of 6-mm thickness were made from every epoxy model and examined with the circular polariscope. The results were as follows : 1. Generally I-bar clasp revealed the most favorable stress distribution around the abutment teeth. 2. At the end portion of the free-end ridge, Back action clasp showed the highest stress concentration at the bucco-lingual and top portions of the residual alveolar ridge. 3. At the distal area of the abutment teeth, Akers clasp and Roach clasp showed higher stress concentration bucco-lingually and apically than the others. 4. To the abutment tooth, I-bar clasp showed the least stress distribution bucco-lingually but the others showed irregular stress distribution. 5. At the mesial area of the abutment teeth, the order of effective stress distribution was I-bar clasp, Back-action clasp, Akers clasp and Roach clasp. There was big difference of stress distribution between them. 6. At the right 2nd premolar and 1st molar, the stress concentration of Akers clasp was a little high but that of I-bar clasp was low.