An oriental medicine doctor has been sentenced to a fine for causing the death of a 90-year-old patient due to negligence during an acupuncture procedure.

The Daejeon District Court recently sentenced a 68-year-old oriental medicine doctor, identified as A, to a fine of 20 million won on charges of professional negligence resulting in death, violations of the Medical Service Act, and obstruction of business.

Doctor A, who operates an oriental medicine clinic in Geumnam-myeon, Sejong, was indicted for inserting one of three acupuncture needles too deeply into the chest of a 92-year-old patient, identified as B, who visited the clinic for back pain in August 2022, causing a minute myocardial rupture inside the pericardium.

It was found that Doctor A left patient B unattended for about 15 minutes, causing the patient to lose consciousness, even though patient B complained of chest pain and showed symptoms of dyspnea.

Patient B was subsequently transferred to a nearby hospital but ultimately passed away.

Investigations revealed that at the time of treating patient B, Doctor A neither took the patient's pulse nor explained the risks of performing acupuncture on the chest area, and even failed to write a medical record.

Separately from this case, Doctor A was also charged with obstructing a cafe's business by using an excavator to place multiple boulders at the entrance driveway of a cafe in Sejong on a total of 12 occasions from September 2024 to February of last year, preventing customers' vehicles from entering and exiting.

At the time, it was reported that Doctor A committed the crime harboring ill feelings after breaking up with C, who operated the cafe.

The court stated, "The nature of the crime is grave, resulting in the death of the victim in the professional negligence case, and the defendant committed the crime of obstructing cafe business even while undergoing investigation for that case." It added, "However, we considered the facts that the defendant admitted to the crimes and showed remorse, and reached a smooth settlement with the bereaved family of the deceased victim."

Reported by Kim Minjeong | Video by Na Hong-hee | Graphics by Lee Jeong-ju | Produced by SBS Digital News