Medical Association: “In May, we will see a Korea we have never experienced before”… Cancer patients “sentenced to death”

[이데일리 박지혜 기자] Following the residents who protested against the government’s policy of increasing the number of medical schools, medical school professors also announced resignations and temporary absences, and as the conflict in the medical school showed no signs of resolution, cancer patients lamented that it was a “death sentence.”

The Korean Cancer Patients’ Rights Council said in a statement on the 24th, “Cancer patients and their families are already exhausted and feeling helpless due to the medical gap caused by the mass resignation of medical residents and medical school professors for over two months.”

The council said, “Patients and their families have barely persevered with superhuman patience amid conditions such as delays and cancellations of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation treatment, and even delays and postponements of outpatient treatment,” adding, “Under these circumstances, a tertiary general hospital is providing surgery and surgery once a week.” He said, “Stopping outpatient treatment is sentencing cancer patients to death and breaking their will to fight.”

He continued, “For the government and the medical community to force patients to make further sacrifices is nothing but an inhumane act. “We must take special measures and methods to end this situation,” he emphasized.

The council requested the withdrawal of the suspension of medical treatment, the return of medical residents to the medical field, withdrawal of the announcement of suspension of medical treatment by tertiary general hospitals once a week, the government’s inspection of the medical field and development of measures, and the formation of a three-party consultative body between the government and the medical community with patients.

On this day, the Emergency Response Committee of the Faculty Council of Seoul National University College of Medicine and Seoul National University Hospital announced at a press conference that all treatment in areas excluding emergency, severe, and hospitalized patients will be suspended for the next 30 days.

The emergency committee said, “Professors at Seoul National University College of Medicine and Seoul National University Hospital have been submitting their resignations since March 25th,” and added, “Resignations will be carried out at the individual’s choice starting 30 days from the date of submission by individual professors.”

Medical school professor groups stated that the resignation will become effective 30 days after submission of the resignation in accordance with civil law regulations, and that the resignation will become a reality from the 25th.

The Emergency Response Committee of the Faculty Council of Ulsan Medical University, which has Asan Medical Center in Seoul as its teaching hospital, also announced a policy of closing once a week starting from the 3rd of next month.

Following Seoul National University Hospital and Asan Medical Center, the remaining major hospitals in Seoul, known as the ‘Big 5’, are highly likely to join the closure.

The government expressed regret over this and said, “For a hospital to be closed, it must be adjusted with the approval of the hospital director, but as far as I know, it has not yet reached that stage.” “We will watch more closely to see how much of an issue is likely to cause a medical gap in the field.” “He said.

Second Vice Minister of Health and Welfare Park Min-soo revealed this at a briefing on the same day, criticizing the claim that ‘the resignation takes effect on the 25th’, saying, “In reality, there will not be many irresponsible professors who would say, ‘I submitted my resignation, so I will not go to work from tomorrow.'”

Vice Minister Park said, “According to the education authorities, there are currently no cases in which a resignation letter has been officially submitted to the university headquarters and is scheduled to be accepted.”

In addition, regarding the medical community’s insistence on ‘abolishing the increase in medical schools’ as a condition for dialogue, he said, “It is against the public’s expectations and is not an alternative that the government can choose as it would nullify the difficult start of medical reform.” He added, “Complete medical reform without hesitation.” “We will fulfill our constitutional responsibility to protect the health of the people.”

The Emergency Response Committee of the Korean Medical Association requested that the increase process be stopped, saying, “At least withdrawing the unfair administrative order issued to residents and stopping the process of increasing the number of medical residents shows the government’s minimum sincerity in leading to a position of dialogue.”

Kim Taek-woo, chairman of the medical association emergency committee, said this at a briefing that day and criticized, “Under the current situation, dialogue that excludes residents and students is meaningless,” and “it is absurd to say that this is a refusal to dialogue.”

Regarding the resignation of medical school professors, he said, “I hope the government knows how heavy a decision it is for them to decide to leave the hospital.”

Chairman Kim said, “In May, you will experience a Republic of Korea that you have never experienced before. 18,000 medical students from 40 medical schools across the country will disappear for a year, and 2,000 residents from teaching hospitals across the country will not return.”

He said, “I hope that the remaining few days given to us will be the time to resolve the problem. The president must make the decision.”