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After participating in a diet experience program conducted by a famous plastic surgeon in Gangnam, Seoul, a female college student who showed symptoms of mental illness due to drug side effects received 5 million won in alimony. 



According to the Korea Legal Aid Corporation today (19th), the Civil Division 4-2 of the Daegu District Court (Presiding Judge Seo Young-ae) ruled that the plaintiff partially prevailed in a lawsuit for damages recently filed by Mr. A (25) against the director of a plastic surgery clinic. 



Mr. A, who lives in Daegu, applied for the program in December 2018 (then 20 years old) after seeing an advertisement for 'diet lipolysis treatment and drug prescription experience group' on Naver blog. 



Instead of free treatment and prescription at the hospital, it was a condition that Mr. A would post treatment reviews on his personal blog. 



A, who applied for the program, received injections to dissolve the subcutaneous fat layer on the lower abdomen and forearm three times from doctor B, and took medicines prescribed by the doctor during the same period. 



After the 19-day trial period, Mr. A was able to achieve the effect of reducing his previous weight by about 6 kg. 



But the price was severe. 



During his experience, Mr. A suffered from vomiting, abdominal pain, and insomnia, and showed abnormal symptoms such as calling his friends and talking nonsense. 



Eventually, Mr. A went to the hospital and received psychiatric treatment for several months, repeating hospitalization and discharge.



The hospital that treated Mr. A diagnosed Mr. A's illness as 'acute and transient psychotic disorder'.



A, who suffered from severe mental illness while trying to lose weight, filed a lawsuit against the doctor and hospital director for damages with the help of the Korea Legal Aid Corporation.



However, Doctor B denied his wrongdoing. 



Mr. B said, "There was no problem in prescribing the drug because Mr. A did not check that he had depression while filling out the medical questionnaire at the beginning of his visit." It has been sufficiently explained." 



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The court of first instance recognized both the doctors and the hospital's claims and ruled against all the plaintiffs. 



However, the second trial court overturned the lower court and ruled in favor of some of the plaintiffs. 



This is because doctor B did not admit negligence in medical treatment, but it was judged that he had violated the duty of explanation related to side effects.  



The second trial judge said, "Some of the drugs prescribed to Mr. A can cause psychiatric symptoms such as suicidal thoughts and mania, so there is a considerable causal relationship between the drug treatment and Mr. A's abnormal symptoms." As a side effect, only the possibility of urinary stones was notified, but the possibility of psychiatric symptoms was not reported." 



Then, "Mr. A fully compared the necessity and risks of drug treatment, and his right to choose whether or not to take drug treatment was infringed," and admitted 5 million won out of the 14 million won in damages claimed by Mr. A.



Lee Bo-hye, an attorney at the corporation who conducted the lawsuit, said, "Medical practitioners have a duty to fully explain procedures or drug administration that can have serious consequences even if the possibility of side effects is low."