A man in his 60s who posted a false banner in front of an Oriental medicine clinic was fined for defamation.

Posting banners and posters in front of oriental medicine clinics claiming to have prescribed incorrect medications

(Jeonju = Yonhap News) Reporter Jeong Gyeong-jae = A woman in her 60s was fined for defaming an Oriental medicine doctor by spreading false information when her husband, who had received treatment there, died from a chronic illness.

Jeonju District Court Criminal Division 1 (Chief Judge Lee Young-eun) announced on the 26th that in the appeal trial of Ms. A (67, female), who was indicted on charges of obstruction of business and defamation, it dismissed the defendant's appeal and upheld the lower court's decision to impose a fine of 4 million won.

The origin of this incident dates back to February 2023.

At the time, Ms. A's husband visited Ms. B (51)'s oriental medicine clinic in Iksan, Jeollabuk-do for symptoms such as indigestion and received treatment, but died three months later.

Then, in May of that year, Mr. A visited this oriental medicine clinic with a portable gas burner and caused a disturbance, shouting, “The oriental medicine doctor killed my husband.”

He also hung a banner and poster in front of the Oriental Medical Clinic with the phrase, "Does it make sense to die from indigestion? Please save my husband."

Ms. A claimed that Ms. B’s prescription of “rich” (附子, helmet flower root) was the direct cause of her husband’s death.

It is an herbal medicine that has the effect of restoring yang energy and driving away cold energy from the body, but is toxic and requires professional prescription.

However, the court decided that Mr. A's claim was different from the facts based on the deceased's medical records during his lifetime.

The first trial court explained, "The expert expert presented the opinion that the cause of the deceased's death was liver cirrhosis and liver dysfunction. Angiosarcoma was observed throughout the deceased's liver, and since it is judged to have developed over a period of at least 6 months and up to 7 years, it must be assumed that the sarcoma existed before the visit to the Oriental medicine clinic."

Mr. A appealed against this, but the judgment of the second trial court was no different.

The second trial court stated the reason for dismissing the appeal, saying, "The defendant tarnished the victim's reputation by spreading false facts based on the premise that the victim prescribed the wrong medicine due to her lack of understanding of herbal medicine." "There are extenuating circumstances that led to the defendant's crime, but that cannot be justified for that reason alone," he said, stating the reason for dismissing the appeal.