State Compensation for Inevitable Delivery Medical Accidents Expanded to Severe Maternal Disabilities

The scope of state compensation for inevitable delivery-related medical accidents that occur despite medical personnel fulfilling their duty of care will be expanded to include "severe maternal disabilities."

The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced that a partial amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Act on Remedy for Medical Accidents and Mediation of Medical Disputes containing these provisions was approved during a Cabinet meeting today (August 11).

With this amendment, the scope of state compensation for inevitable delivery medical accidents now includes "severe maternal disabilities," in addition to the existing categories of neonatal cerebral palsy, neonatal death, and maternal death.

The government has been continuously expanding state compensation for inevitable delivery medical accidents.

In July of last year, the compensation limit was substantially raised from a maximum of 30 million won to 300 million won.

Currently limited to delivery accidents, state compensation for inevitable medical accidents will be expanded starting next May to include high-risk essential medical procedures determined by Ministry of Health and Welfare ordinances.

To alleviate avoidance of high-risk essential medical fields and enable essential medical personnel to focus on treatment in a stable environment, the government plans to review specific targets for expanding state compensation within budgetary limits.

Kwak Soon-heon, Director General for Health Policy, stated, "We will seamlessly implement this as a follow-up measure to the amendment of the Medical Dispute Mediation Act revised last May, in order to reduce the civil and criminal burdens on medical staff regarding medical accidents and promptly provide relief for patient damages."

(Photo: Provided by Ministry of Health and Welfare, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.