Cardiac arrests and deaths confirmed during sedated endoscopy procedures
Mediation success rate for severe cases and cases with lasting disabilities stands at 53.4%
Rate trails general injury cases by 19.7 percentage points
Kwon Chil-seung calls for stronger mediation support in serious medical accident cases
Applications for medical dispute mediation are on the rise among patients who died or suffered severe disabilities due to medical accidents, yet the mediation success rate for serious cases remains lower than for general injury cases.
Cases have emerged in which patients fell into a coma or died from cardiac arrest during sedated endoscopy procedures, prompting calls for systemic reform to provide more meaningful relief to victims.
According to data submitted Wednesday to the office of Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Kwon Chil-seung, a member of the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee, by the Korea Medical Dispute Mediation and Arbitration Agency, one case settled last year involved a patient who lost consciousness after suffering cardiac arrest following sedative administration during a sedated endoscopy. The victim had sought mediation for approximately 2.17 billion won ($1.62 million), and the case was ultimately settled at 800 million won.
In another case, a patient died after cardiac arrest caused by a propofol overdose during a sedated endoscopy. Of the approximately 396.98 million won sought in that case, mediation was settled at 100 million won. A separate case in which a patient died after a targeted anticancer drug was administered at an excessive rate during cancer treatment was settled at 50 million won.
Although all of these individual cases were successfully mediated, the overall mediation success rate for serious medical accidents was lower than for general injury cases. From 2021 through September this year, the rate for cases involving severe or lasting disabilities stood at 53.4 percent, compared with 73.1 percent for other injury cases. The rate for fatal cases was 58.0 percent, also falling short of the general injury figure. The mediation success rate refers to the share of concluded cases in which a settlement or mediation agreement was reached.
Medical dispute mediation applications have been trending upward. Total applications last year reached 2,605, up from 2,089 the previous year. Applications involving deaths and severe or lasting disabilities rose from 389 in 2024 to 477 in 2025. Fatal cases increased from 311 to 361, while cases involving severe or lasting disabilities climbed from 78 to 116.
The mediation success rate for serious medical accidents has remained around half so far this year. Through September, the rate for fatal cases stood at 52.2 percent, while the rate for cases involving severe or lasting disabilities was limited to 51.9 percent.
The medical dispute mediation system was introduced to allow victims of medical accidents to resolve disputes quickly without resorting to litigation. In cases involving death or severe disability, however, significant disagreements can arise over questions of medical negligence and the scope of damages, prompting calls for stronger specialized mediation support.
"The medical dispute mediation system was designed so that victims can receive prompt relief without having to rely on litigation," Kwon said. "The reality that mediation becomes harder precisely when the harm is most serious is something that needs to be addressed in light of the system's original purpose." He added that specialized mediation support for serious medical accidents must be strengthened so that victims and their families can feel the benefit of the system.
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