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SOUTH KOREAN HEALTH authorities said they are investigating a plastic surgery clinic in Seoul after photographs emerged online showing medical staff partying in an operating theatre.
In one selfie, posted on photo-sharing app Instagram, staff in scrubs stand around a candlelit birthday cake — with an apparently unconscious patient lying on a bed behind them.
Another picture showed a staffer, wearing a mask and a surgery gown, jokingly placing a gel breast implant over her chest in an operating room. Another showed staff posing while eating hamburgers.
“Our officials are investigating the clinic to see if there was any violation of medical laws,” said a spokeswoman from a public health department in Seoul’s Gangnam district.
“They may look into whether such behaviour damaged the reputation of medical practitioners,” she told AFP.
Under South Korea’s medical law, behaviour deemed to tarnish the reputation of the industry can result in suspension.
The images, posted by one staffer, drew a storm of online criticism for alleged disregard of sanitation rules and patient safety. They were taken down later.
The clinic apologised for “careless actions” by some of its staff, whom it confirmed were doctors or assistants there.
“We are left devastated for causing such concerns among our clients…because of the senseless behaviour,” Jewelry Plastic Surgery Centre said on its website.
“We offer our deep apology… and will conduct thorough safety training for all our staff members.”
The upmarket district in southern Seoul — made famous by South Korean singer Psy’s global hit “Gangnam Style” — is home to high-end stores as well as hundreds of plastic surgery clinics.
Looks-obsessed South Korea is famed for its vast plastic surgery industry, with one of the highest per-capita rates of plastic surgery procedures in the world.
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The same country that wouldn’t give an Irish girl a job because she was told your kind drink a lot. South Korea one of the biggest alcohol consumers in the world.
Well it does have a population of 25m ;-)
They were in stitches
All fun Nd games till someone looses a breast !
Happy Birthday
It’s amazing how many people instantly turn into mogs when there’s a camera around.
What’s the big deal . It’s plastic surgery after all . Boob jobs and the like . It’s not like it’s an ER room .
1. They are outside the sterile zone…
2. As someone else said, I feel the privacy of someone having a boob or nose job is on the bottom rung of the medical ethics ladder.
Not in the first picture. They were in scrubs and the patient was still on the operating table.
It’s not a case of privacy, it’s a case that the professional doctors that have a duty of care to their patients are distracted from their duties to jump into a pic or eat a slice of cake!!
A naked flame in an operating theatre is also a serious risk to all concerned, there would be anaesthetic gases and oxygen present, not to mention ignoring the patient.
The second image appears to show a patient on the table while theatre nurses walk about wearing ordinary clothing and their heads uncovered, only one appears to wear a mask. In the third image while the nurses pretend to box the operating table appears to be in the foreground.
The fourth image appears to be taken during a procedure, the nurse is posing with a blood stained implant and obviously someone was also there to take the picture. Her hair is also uncovered.
In the final image the nurses are wearing theatre caps and masks but one appears to be wearing a purple cardigan in theatre, behind the nurse using the mobile phone you can clearly see pendant theatre lights so they are in theatre.
In Ireland it tends to make front page news if a nurse or doctor don’t wash their hands on the wards, never mind in theatre. If theatre staff fail to gown up properly or should for some reason decide to wear their favourite cardigan into theatre while carrying a cake full of candles I’m fairly sure they’ll be politely asked to leave.
Well that went tits up.
Well you’ve been warned! If you’re thinking of having yourself carved up don’t go there.
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