Gov't files documents defending medical recruitment hike to court

The government has submitted documents defending its decision to expand annual medical school admissions by 2,000 spots in a case that is on appeal before the Seoul High Court, according to a lawyer representing the plaintiffs on Saturday.

Patients walk down a darkened corridor in an unspecified major hospital in Seoul on Sunday. [YONHAP]

The government has submitted documents defending its decision to expand annual medical school admissions by 2,000 spots in a case that is on appeal before the Seoul High Court, according to a lawyer representing the plaintiffs on Saturday.

The lawsuit was filed by 18 medical professors, junior doctors, students and prospective medical school applicants who are opposed to the government’s plan, which sparked an ongoing strike by some 12,000 junior doctors that began on Feb. 20.

The documents, which were submitted in response to a request from the Seoul High Court on April 30, include government studies on mid- to long-term public demand for health services, a report on the state medical education across the country and forecasts of how demographic changes could affect the health care sector, according to the plaintiffs’ legal representative Lee Byung-cheol.

Other documents included in the government’s filing include minutes from various health policy committees.

The court is expected to issue its ruling on the case within the coming week.

In addition to its plan to expand medical recruitment, the government is facing outrage from the medical community over its plan to introduce legislation that could allow foreign-licensed doctors to practice in Korea when the state of the four-tier public health care alert system is at the highest level, “serious.”

In response to anger from medical groups, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said Friday that the government will take steps to ensure that only qualified foreign doctors can practice in Korea.

The prime minister’s remarks came the same day that medical professors at four of the country’s foremost teaching hospitals did not come to work, citing fatigue from overwork due to the prolonged strike by junior doctors.

Speaking at a meeting of government officials on Friday, Han said that “unverified” doctors would not be allowed to treat Korean patients “under any circumstances” and that the government “will prepare thorough safety measures” to safeguard public health.

The announcement, which medical associations denounced as “insane” and tantamount to “placing Korean patients on a test bed as experimental subjects,” highlighted the limitations of the government’s ongoing efforts to fill staffing shortages at major hospitals with doctors who usually serve in the military and public health centers.

These shortages have been exacerbated since medical professors, who are usually the foremost specialists in their fields, began taking days off midweek.

Some 50 hospitals were affected by the daylong walkout by medical professors on Friday, including Seoul National University Hospital, Asan Medical Center, Severance Hospital and Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, which along with Samsung Medical Center constitute the so-called Big 5 tertiary hospitals in the country.

Medical professors have previously taken off on April 30 and May 3 with no major disruptions reported in health services.

During a press briefing on Friday, Second Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo said the Health Ministry’s bill “is a pre-emptive and supplementary measure to prepare for potential future emergencies” and that the government “does not have immediate plans to deploy foreign doctors as the current emergency medical system continues to operate effectively despite ongoing challenges.”

Park added that even if foreign doctors are deployed, they will only be authorized to administer treatments under the supervision of local doctors.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]