Still from CCTV footage of Park, who is being put in a five-point restraint by three male orderlies on May 24 at 11:36 pm. Park does not appear to be resisting.
“Rather than exhibiting symptoms of psychosis, the patient was in a state of an extreme aversion response due to environmental changes, including hospitalization. From the very first day, [the hospital staff] appear to have administered pharmaceuticals equivalent to [those used with] acute schizophrenia or mania associated with bipolar disorder.”This was the conclusion shared with the Hankyoreh on Monday by a psychiatrist surnamed Kang after viewing treatment records for a 33-year-old woman surnamed Park who died at W Jin Hospital in Bucheon 17 days after being admitted to its psychiatric ward.Kang, who has been a psychiatrist for almost a decade, suggested that the medications were administered to Park in an excessive way, despite the possibility of serious side effects. This comes amid claims by Park’s family that she died as a result of abdominal pain and intestinal obstruction as side effects of pharmaceutical use.Because of the risks, Kang argued that although Park’s family members or another legal proxy should have been sufficiently advised about the medications’ main and side effects, and her state should have been closely observed after administration, neither of these processes happened.In their criminal accusations against six physicians — including hospital director Yang Jae-woong — the family has contended that the hospital neglected Park as her condition worsened. Rather than the typical charges of professional negligence resulting in death, they have applied charges of death caused by abandonment. Massive amount of pills given on hospitalizationThe Hankyoreh asked Kang to perform an analysis of various records of Park’s treatment that the family had acquired from the hospital, including nursing records, progress records, isolation and restraint records, and closed-circuit television tables from the isolation wards.Kang’s first observation was about the administration of high volumes of sedatives early in Park’s hospitalization.Park, who was 33 at the time, was admitted to the hospital on May 10 for treatment of diet pill addiction. Having studied overseas in the US from a young age, she had a seven-year history of taking Dietamin (Daewoong Pharmaceutical), a leading appetite suppressant used in internal medicine clinics.
