• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.61-99
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• 2017

Medical practices such as surgery often need to accompany anesthesia, which frequently causes medical accidents. In order to determine whether a medical accident related to anesthesia was caused by a doctor's fault, it is necessary to understand what is the duty of care required for the medical staff such as a doctor through all stages of anesthesia. This paper analyzed Supreme Court decisions since 1990s and recent lower courts' decisions in order to understand standard of care with respect to anesthesia. While numerous medical accidents were related to inhalation anesthesia in the past, it turned out that recent medical accidents were often related to the use of intravenous or local anesthetics. In particular, legal disputes with respect to medical accidents related to propofol have considerably increased since 2007. However, because Supreme Court decisions as to anesthesia accidents are mostly related to inhalation anesthesia, they seem to be insufficient to set standard of care as to other types of anesthesia accidents. In light of the fact that medical accidents related to the use of propofol have been increasing, it is critical to establish and maintain clinical guidelines on the use of each anesthetic in the medical field. However, The Courts can present the standard of care suitable for medical reality to serve as a compass for medical practices.

• Journal of Korea Port Economic Association
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.83-104
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• 2012

The main purpose of tramp ships in shipping markets is to produce operation profits by minimizing the running days in a contract of the voyage charterparty. It is an especially difficult task for the owners to earn operation profits in the present recessional shipping market. Tramp ships are moving towards globalization in order to look for a variety of cargoes, which are distinguished from the liners operating regularly as per the fixed time schedule. Tramp shipping, therefore, requires special attention every voyage to secure operation efficiency which comes from minimized sea and laytime in port. The laytime is allowed by owners but if the charterers use more laytime than that which is incorporated in the charterparty, then a compensation known as 'demurrage' must be paid to owners. Conversely if the time is shorter this is called 'despatch' and in this case the owners are paid. As the laytime issue in the voyage charter is somewhat delicate, it often causes much disputes between charterers and owners during the cargo handling in ports. This study focuses on the charterers' right and duty on the laytime which is usually applied for the benefit of the charterers. Reference is also made to English law cases to reinforce this study and the conclusion will make relevant suggestions for further research.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.111-138
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• 2021

'Unlicensed medical practice by a non-medical practitioner' often represented by surrogate surgery or so-called 'ghost surgery,' causes irreparable damage to life or body, and therefore calls for very strict and effective controls. The 'bill on installment of CCTVs in an operating room' to prevent unlicensed surrogate surgery has been discussed for a long time, but due to numerous issues and heated confrontations, it has been pending in the National Assembly. Nevertheless, it is expected that the bill will be discussed again in earnest in the National Assembly because surrogate surgery and factory-type cosmetic surgery, which has been performed mainly in the field of cosmetic surgery, has also been occurring in the field of therapeutic surgery. In general, an operating room is considered as being locked or closed, as well as disallowing implicit complicity among insiders. Hence, if the insiders conspire to commit or cover up an illegal act, or if a surgeon performs rapid cosmetic surgery and then leaves the recipient (or medical institution) so as to perform more operations for profit - even if it is legitimate practice - it may result in serious consequences in terms of the recovery of a patient. In this case, installation of CCTVs can be of great help in identifying an illegal act and assessing any occurrence of negligence. On the other hand, while the fundamental purpose of therapeutic surgery is to restore a patient's life or body - that is, lifesaving - installation of CCTVs may base the relationship between a surgeon and a patient on distrust and surveillance, so it may increase the number of requests for CCTV footage or lead to more disputes, as well as placing a burden on the surgeon when best results are not achieved for a patient. As a result, the surgeon may choose non-invasive treatment contrary to conscience instead of risky but necessary surgery, or he/she may have significant difficulty in determining the timing of surgery, which may limit the provision of effective surgical medical care. Then, in terms of the relationship between a surgeon and patient, and in the long run, there could be significant disadvantages for the public and patients if CCTV footage is allowed. In this paper, we review domestic and overseas cases and issues regarding installation of CCTVs in an operating room, and present various viewpoints and suggestions to promote legislation with minimized legal problems and side effects, thereby contributing to protection of the lives and health of the public, patients, and recipients of surgery.