The Moral Debate over South Korea’s New Law Requiring CCTV Cameras in Hospital Operating Rooms
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In 2021, South Korea’s Medical Service Act was amended to include Article 38-2, which concerns the installation and operation of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in hospital operating rooms (ORs). This amendment, which went into effect in September 2023, requires hospitals in South Korea to maintain CCTV in their ORs, and it provides patients who undergo surgery while they are unconscious the option of having their surgeries video recorded by means of these cameras. Article 38-2 has been, and remains, controversial; although it enjoys overwhelming public support, it has encountered strong opposition from doctors, hospitals, and medical organizations in the country. This article lays out and evaluates the arguments that have been advanced both for and against this new law in an effort to determine whether, or to what extent, it is ethically justified. The analysis that is provided examines Article 38-2 from both consequentialist and rights-based perspectives. It is argued that while it is too early to determine whether the new law will succeed in its primary objective of reducing the incidence of ghost surgery in South Korea, the consequences of the law that can be predicted with any certainty at the present time are likely to be net beneficial. Furthermore, it is argued that Article 38-2 will help to protect an important yet underappreciated right of patients who undergo surgery involving general anesthesia, namely, their postsurgical right to know who did what to them while they were unconscious.
Abstract
In 2021, South Korea’s Medical Service Act was amended to include Article 38-2, which concerns the installation and operation of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in hospital operating rooms (ORs). This amendment, which went into effect in September 2023, requires hospitals in South Korea to maintain CCTV in their ORs, and it provides patients who undergo surgery while they are unconscious the option of having their surgeries video recorded by means of these cameras. Article 38-2 has been, and remains, controversial; although it enjoys overwhelming public support, it has encountered strong opposition from doctors, hospitals, and medical organizations in the country. This article lays out and evaluates the arguments that have been advanced both for and against this new law in an effort to determine whether, or to what extent, it is ethically justified. The analysis that is provided examines Article 38-2 from both consequentialist and rights-based perspectives. It is argued that while it is too early to determine whether the new law will succeed in its primary objective of reducing the incidence of ghost surgery in South Korea, the consequences of the law that can be predicted with any certainty at the present time are likely to be net beneficial. Furthermore, it is argued that Article 38-2 will help to protect an important yet underappreciated right of patients who undergo surgery involving general anesthesia, namely, their postsurgical right to know who did what to them while they were unconscious.
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