On July 26, 2024 (KST), SBS reported on the death of a 33-year-old Korean woman who was checked into a “well-known psychiatric hospital in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, owned by a popular psychiatrist.”
The report included raw, shocking CCTV footage of the inpatient begging to be let out of her room around 1 AM on May 27, showing signs of distress and pain in her abdominal area. SBS reported that she was medicated, restrained to her bed, and neglected to death.
After knocking on the door late into the night, the woman was seen by the nursing staff and caregivers, who administered medication and then restrained her to the bed.
Though the restraints were removed after an hour due to her bleeding from the nose and gasping for breath, no further action was taken before she was released from the room.
— SBS
According to SBS, the late inpatient’s abdomen had become visibly distended over the course of her hospitalization, but the hospital blamed her chronic constipation and disregarded the symptom.
When she lost consciousness, the staff checked her pulse and massaged her limbs for five minutes before finally performing CPR. The footage included how a defibrillator was used only about 20 minutes after the patient had gone unconscious.
The cause of death is suspected to be “pseudo-obstruction of the colon.”
Anyone could see that her abdomen was abnormal, but instead of getting her the appropriate medical attention, the hospital just kept drugging her and restrained her in that single-patient room until she died.
— The Late Inpatient’s Mother
The woman had been hospitalized for a little over two weeks to treat an addiction to diet pills containing narcotics. Her mother told SBS that she specifically chose the hospital for “its reputation and the mention of its addiction program.”
We specifically sought out this hospital because the psychiatrist is very popular, and he talked about his addiction program a lot.
— The Late Inpatient’s Mother
Following the news, Koreans were quick to connect the dots and speculate that the psychiatrist in question is Yang Jae Woong, also known as EXID Hani‘s fiancé.
While the SBS report did not include full names of the hospital or the medical personnel involved, it showed the “W Jin Hospital” building as well as blurred screenshots of the hospital’s (now inaccessible) website which intensified the speculations.
Additionally, the small details—such as the psychiatrist being very popular and the hospital having an addiction-specific program—became enough clues for the online allegation to spread like wildfire.
The hospital said that the on-duty doctor was on standby on the day of the incident and that they regularly conducted training on CPR and emergency response, asserting that their response was appropriate. The police, who received a complaint from the family, have charged the hospital’s representative director and staff with medical law violations and have started an investigation.
Yang Jae Woong has not yet responded to the allegations sparked against him.
Watch the full news segment below.
