Dentist referred to prosecutors after patient dies during implant procedure at Gangnam clinic

A dentist has been referred to prosecutors after a patient in their 70s died during an implant procedure at a clinic in Seoul's Gangnam-gu.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's wide-area investigation unit said Monday it had referred dentist A to the Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office on Friday on charges of professional negligence resulting in death.

A is accused of injecting a local anesthetic in excess of the permitted dosage into a patient in their 70s, identified as B, at the clinic where A worked in December last year, causing B's death.

A forensic assessment found that the overdose was administered directly into B's bloodstream due to the operating dentist's negligence, triggering a toxic reaction that was the direct cause of death.

A has since moved to a different dental clinic.

Police said they plan to continue investigating the clinic's head director on separate charges, including violations of the Medical Service Act.

However, the head director was not charged with negligent homicide after a forensic assessment concluded it would be difficult to hold the director responsible for the death, as the director had no direct involvement in the procedure.

A separate incident occurred at the same clinic on Aug. 3, when another patient died while undergoing an implant procedure.