This article contrains a brief overview on consumer complaint and redress on medical services in The Revised Consumer Protection Act 1999.
The revised Consumer Protection Act was recently approved by the National Assembly. It promises to take consumer protection in Korea to a new height According to the revised act, the Korea Consumer Protection Board(KCPB) can perform activity of redressing in medical service area.
The revised act goes into force, beginning April 6, 1999.
The KCPB began handling complaints in the medical services last April 6 in accordance with the newly revised Consumer Protection Act. In preparation for its new activity in the medical services areas, the KCPB activated a Medical Service Team in March. The team is staffed by nurses hired on a contractual basis and act on advices from external experts in relevant fields.
Ever since, The number of consumers knocking on the KCPB´s door with complaints about medical services is soaring, the KCPB has received 1,885 consumer complaints and has successfully intervened in 59 of them, as of July 14. In consumer counseling, the dental hospital topped the list, followed by obstertrics and orthopaedic surgery in that order. In complaints redress, the largest was recorded in cases concerning internal treatment of disease.
The number of consumer complaints about medical services received by the KCPB will keep growing. The number of disputes that go all the way to the Consumer Dispute Settlement Commission for final settlement will be on the rise, too.
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