The doctor who operated on deceased singer Shin Hae-chul on Monday denied allegations of medical malpractice, claiming that his hospital had followed proper procedures.
Shin died on Oct. 27 after suffering from a heart attack five days earlier that left him in a coma.
The singer had received an intestinal surgery at a local hospital on Oct. 17, the same hospital at which he had gastric bypass surgery five years ago.
Autopsy results have shown that Shin had perforations in the small intestines and in the pericardium ― the sack that envelops the heart. The National Forensic Service has tentatively concluded that Shin’s death was caused by inflammations in the intestinal lining and the pericardium, and septicemia.
The doctor, surnamed Kang, who is the chief of the hospital involved, told the media after being questioned by the police that all surgeries performed on Shin were conducted with his consent.
After the singer died, his wife claimed that the hospital performed a stomach-reducing surgery without consent. Kang denies the allegations.
“A procedure to strengthen the stomach wall was performed in the process of separating the stomach and the intestines that had stuck together. Shin received explanations and gave his consent before hand,” Kang was quoted as saying in the police questioning.
Kang is also reported to have told the police that the perforations formed after the surgery, and that he was not clear on what caused them.
He emphasized that hospital staff told Shin to fast after the surgery, and the singer was fully aware of the need to fast having been hospitalized at his hospital on two previous occasions in 2009 and 2010.
The hospital had raised the possibility that eating immediately after undergoing surgery could have led to the perforation in Shin’s small intestines.
He further stated that that protocol was followed when Shin came to the hospital complaining of abdominal pains and that proper tests were conducted.
By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)
