Inappropriate surgeries performed by otolaryngologists or dentists instead of proper plastic surgeons have terrorized people over the years. These cases raise the question of whether it is one particular doctor in charge of the surgery that permitted these operations to be carried out in the first place. In response to these “ghost surgeries,” there have been calls for mandatory installation of closed-circuit television (CCTV) in operating rooms. After seven years of struggle, the National Assembly finally passed a bill on August 31 to revise the medical law requiring CCTVs to be installed inside surgery rooms. However, the controversy over how to implement the law remains.

The amendment forces medical institutions to film surgeries if requested by the patient or guardian and take appropriate measures to prevent damage or loss of the footages. It also includes that personal information should be protected by managing access to film records. Moreover, these videos should not be viewed or shared without the consent of the patient. However, the case of emergency surgery is an exception as the responsible medical personnel can refuse to record operation scenes.

In accordance with the amendment, CCTVs should be installed in surgery rooms to protect the legal interests of patients. In fact, The Korean Medical Association (KMA) argues that having to perform surgery under a surveillance environment is a violation of human rights for medical workers. However, the rights of patients should not be dismissed by prioritizing the rights of medical workers. Since the operating room is a special space where only patients and medical officials are allowed to enter, third-party interference is fundamentally prohibited and securing objective evidence of illegal activities is difficult. Therefore, CCTVs in the operating room will help recognize and prove the crime, thereby easing the difficulty of confirming a crime from a patient’s side in a medical dispute.

There is also much controversy over the mandatory installation of CCTVs, but it can no longer be left to hospitals to make autonomous decisions of the installation. In fact, when Gyeonggi Province received applications for a pilot CCTV installation project from hospitals last year, only 12 out of a total of 310 hospitals applied and only two hospitals among those eventually made the installation. Other hospitals could not apply due to fierce opposition from the medical staffs. These results means that it is necessary to establish clear guidelines on the installation by establishing new enforcement rules.

Some are still concerned with the possibility of the filmed videos being leaked. However, since the amendment aims to protect the human rights of patients, it will strictly monitor and restrict these actions. Up to now, the relative regulations have restricted people from browsing and viewing the video, and more detailed punishment and regulations on the viewing, delivery, and distribution of the video will be made clear on the enforcement date, August 30, 2023. Just like the case of black boxes, which yielded concerns of privacy violations in the early stage but achieved a reduction in crime rates, CCTVs in operating rooms will also help prevent medical accidents.

Installing CCTVs does not necessarily mean distrust between patients and doctors; it is a matter of patients’ rights to know what is going on in the operating room. CCTVs can speak for the patients’ rights, while doctors can still form a faithful bond with their patients by various subsidiary services. A hopeful outlook on the newly introduced law and thorough examination will protect the rights and interests of patients that have thus far been infringed upon.