KOR
▲ The nursing hospital that amputated a patient's leg and disposed of it as recyclable waste
Regarding the incident involving a human leg discovered at a living resources recovery center in Incheon last June, the nursing hospital staff who mistakenly discarded the patient's leg as recyclables have been charged with violating the Wastes Control Act.
The Incheon Yeonsu Police Station announced today (August 3) that it has booked three individuals—including a head nurse, a nursing assistant, and a volunteer at a nursing hospital in Incheon—without detention and referred them to the prosecution on charges of violating the Wastes Control Act.
Police also booked the hospital's medical corporation under the joint penal provision and forwarded the case to the prosecution.
However, the act of amputating the patient's leg in a hospital ward rather than an operating room lacked any penal provisions under the Medical Service Act and was deemed a legitimate medical procedure by a licensed doctor, leading police not to book them for that act.
Police investigations revealed that around June 8, medical staff at the hospital amputated the leg of an inpatient in their 80s, identified as A, who was suffering from severe necrosis, wrapped it in bandages, and disposed of it.
Head nurse B and the others are accused of failing to store the leg, which is human tissue, in a dedicated container for tissue-like medical waste, and violating regulations requiring storage in a refrigeration facility at 4°C (39°F) or lower.
Volunteer C is accused of mistakenly throwing the leg into a recycling waste bag despite warnings from the hospital not to touch the medical waste containers.
Investigations showed that while cleaning trash cans, C mistook the leg inside a nearby medical waste container for plaster cast waste and placed it into a recycling waste bag.
The leg was discovered by an employee sorting recyclables at the Southern Regional Living Resources Recovery Center in Songdo-dong, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon, at around 2:30 PM on June 10, and the center employee reported it to the police.
After receiving a report from the nursing hospital and confirming that the leg matched that of patient A, police investigated five hospital-related individuals and forwarded three of them who violated the Wastes Control Act to the prosecution.
Under the current Wastes Control Act, medical waste containing human tissue must be placed in dedicated containers and strictly collected and transported separately from other waste.
Violations can result in up to two years in prison or a fine of up to 20 million won.
A police official stated, "We have requested the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment, and local governments to formulate measures and strengthen supervision to prevent similar incidents from recurring."
(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.
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