The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 356

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 356

“Huh! Ah, yes, just a moment!”

Among the desk staff, a middle-aged woman wearing different clothes from the others suddenly snapped to attention and stood up.

She seemed to be the manager, and indeed, her quick wit was noticeably different from the others.

Realizing that I hadn’t come as a patient, she immediately rushed to the examination room where Choi Eunhee was.

And not long after, I was able to see the person I was looking for.

“Who came to see… Director Hanyewon?”

As soon as Choi Eunhee saw my face, she grimaced.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you in person. Hasn’t it?”

“…I don’t suppose you came here for treatment.”

“Of course not. I came because I have something to discuss.”

Choi Eunhee pressed the wrinkles between her brows with her hand to smooth them out, hesitated for a moment, then sighed and spoke.

“What kind of rude behavior is this during clinic hours? You should have made an appointment.”

Though Choi Eunhee meticulously pointed out proper etiquette, she should have known that my coming to find her was already quite considerate.

I had even deliberately timed my visit for near closing time.

“Then I’ll wait here and read until you feel like talking.”

Since they operated by appointment, there weren’t many patients in the waiting room, but there were still four people sitting there.

Among them, a girl who looked to be around middle school age had been fiddling with her phone since I started making a scene.

She was probably trying to get the right angle to secretly take photos.

I deliberately opened my briefcase slowly and pulled out the booklet from the front.

“About prescribing Mahuang formula to a patient with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy”

Whoosh!

Her frowning from just moments before was nothing compared to this.

Choi Eunhee contorted her face like a demon and reached out to snatch the paper.

Of course, I wasn’t about to let her take it.

I quickly dodged Choi Eunhee’s hand and swiftly raised the booklet up high.

Since I had brought it to show her anyway, it wouldn’t matter much if I handed it over, but if I let her snatch it away meekly, wouldn’t I lose momentum?

“Will you discuss this quietly?”

“…Come in.”

Getting into the examination room once was this difficult.

Though she didn’t tell me to sit, I took the initiative to sit in the patient consultation chair in front of the desk.

Choi Eunhee sat in her chair with a face full of displeasure.

The clean yet luxurious interior that dominated the atmosphere, and even the chair deliberately raised to create a height difference.

It was obvious that attention had been paid to these detailed aspects.

‘Instead of things like this, why not pay attention to the patients.’

Though it felt slightly awkward sitting in the patient’s seat, looking up at her didn’t change anything at all.

Instead, I politely handed over the document about ‘prescribing Mahuang formula to a patient with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy’ with both hands.

“Please feel free to read it.”

Choi Eunhee glared at me once more before taking the booklet.

Swish, flip. She turned the pages at an incredibly fast speed, then slammed it down on the desk in less than a minute.

Unless she was a professional speed reader, it was impossible to comprehend the content at that speed.

“I wondered what this was about. You came all the way here and made a scene over just this?”

“Just this?”

“What do you know about this case, Director? The patient didn’t mention having hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and came to get diet pills. Director Yu Eunjeong’s chart recorded no surgical history or medications. Nevertheless, when problems arose after taking the medicine, we covered the treatment costs and even paid a settlement. What do you want us to do? Should we ask every single patient who comes in: Do you have heart disease? Do you have lung disease? Do you have liver disease? Do you have kidney disease? Is that what you do, Director?”

Choi Eunhee rapidly poured out her words in an attacking manner.

Perhaps because I had barged in unreasonably, Choi Eunhee also expressed anger and dissatisfaction instead of her usual relaxed smile.

Though it was better for getting things done quickly than exchanging evasive words.

“So that’s what you understood?”

The content was somewhat unexpected.

I had thought Choi Eunhee either didn’t know about the incident in Cheonan at all.

Or would try to cut ties, saying what Director Yu Eunjeong did individually had nothing to do with her.

Only then did doubt appear on Choi Eunhee’s face.

If I had called Choi Eunhee immediately without sufficient investigation, I would have believed her words as they were.

But now, with Chu Miyoung and Yu Minseong’s help, I had secured testimony not only from the patient involved but also from Director Son Seunghun, a third party in this incident at that clinic.

“Since I gave it to you to read, please actually read it. It seems Director Kwon Wujin from the Cheonan branch deliberately reported differently to you, Director Choi.”

I went through the trouble of coming here and handing over the booklet, only for her to think she understood after just skimming the title and summary.

When I let out a deep sigh, Choi Eunhee finally began reading the text carefully from the first page.

“…”

Most of what the patient’s friend had told the patient was correct.

The patient had asked whether she could do herbal diet treatment even with her heart condition, and Director Yu Eunjeong had answered that it was possible.

Though the patient hadn’t explicitly demanded non-Mahuang diet pills, she had mentioned seeing an advertisement saying that dieting was possible with non-Mahuang formulas even with underlying conditions, and that she came for consultation.

– There was no talk about being able to take Mahuang formula or using non-Mahuang formula. I only said that since my heart disease is asymptomatic, it shouldn’t matter if I take medicine.

And without even recording the heart condition in the chart, they threw out a routine prescription.

According to what Director Son Seunghun confirmed on the external decoction room website, it contained a large amount of Mahuang.

Did the junior vice director cause the accident? Usually, the less experience one has, the greater the fear of making mistakes, right?

Chu Miyoung had wondered about this while recalling her past, and Son Seunghun had responded that the person was originally just brave without knowledge.

Bragging about being able to treat everything, but not knowing how to actually treat it.

– Why do you keep using someone like that?

If someone is judged to lack sufficient work capability through regular training, you provide additional education.

If that still doesn’t work, you let them go. So why keep them around?

– She’s the daughter of a medical equipment company president.

It was none other than a personnel favor requested by the president of the company that makes UV treatment devices.

Considering how they pushed those machines onto all the branches, there must have been some kind of strong connection with Haneul Clinic.

She joined last year and had been at the Cheonan branch for a little over a year and a half, causing various incidents big and small, which Clinic Director Kwon Wujin had apparently been covering up appropriately.

“…Ha, haha.”

From her reaction, it seemed Choi Eunhee really didn’t know the full story of this incident.

Just moments ago she had been snapping at me, insisting she was completely right, but now she couldn’t say anything and just laughed helplessly.

She probably couldn’t bring herself to say that Clinic Director Yu Eunjeong was blameless here.

The fact that she had received incorrect reports and remained unaware until now was also evidence of incompetence, showing major cracks in the system.

“Look at this too.”

I pulled out several more booklets.

While there were many minor complaints, I selected and handed over mainly cases where patients who had suffered harm expressed willingness to participate in public exposure or group lawsuits.

Choi Eunhee’s hands trembled.

Until she read the first booklet, she had maintained straight shoulders and a somewhat arrogant posture.

But now she avoided my eyes and the booklets, constantly glancing toward the door.

Did she want to run away?

But there was no way out.

Turning away wouldn’t make these booklets—no, the patients who experienced these incidents—disappear.

Eventually she took the booklets and read through them, taking deep breaths several times.

I sat with my arms crossed, waiting for Choi Eunhee to examine the documents.

There were absurd misdiagnoses and mistreatments, as well as many cases where reasonable situations were handled with ridiculous responses that provoked patient anger.

For example, there was a case where they caused watery diarrhea for three straight months, claiming they needed to use purgative methods to expel toxins, yet failed to cure the skin condition.

There was also a case where thread lifting caused facial bruising, but in trying to avoid refunds, they blamed the patient and ended up hurling abuse—all sorts of incidents were there.

“Um… Clinic Director…?”

Quite some time must have passed, as a desk staff member knocked and peeked through the door.

The staff, all changed into casual clothes, rolled their eyes as they observed the situation between Choi Eunhee and me.

Seeing that all the corridor lights had been turned off, it seemed to be time to leave work.

“You can go home now.”

I spoke for her.

Choi Eunhee was staring intensely at the papers as if she couldn’t hear their words.

The staff disappeared as if fleeing, and Choi Eunhee continued reading without moving a muscle.

“…I didn’t know things like this had happened.”

Of course, she wouldn’t have known.

“You know that saying you didn’t know can’t absolve you of responsibility, right?”

The primary responsibility naturally lay with the branches that caused the problems.

But it was Choi Eunhee who allowed expansion and the use of the Haneul Clinic name without verifying minimum standards of ethics and competence.

“When people think of Haneul Clinic, they think of Clinic Director Choi. At least, that’s how I thought of it.”

While the image has changed significantly to focus on cosmetic treatments now, it was Choi Eunhee’s name that initially gained fame and enabled the current expansion.

“The patients would have visited this clinic looking at your face, your name, and the ‘Haneul Clinic’ brand.”

“…”

Isn’t that how franchises work in any field?

People go because they believe the brand will guarantee minimum quality at any branch.

“This lack of management not only affects some clinic directors who are working hard to provide treatment under the Haneul Clinic name, but also the patients who visited with trust, and furthermore, it undermines the credibility of the entire Korean medicine field.”

Last time when the Ulsan and Asan branches declared their withdrawal, Choi Eunhee called me, ranting about business interference and whatnot.

But even without Chu Miyoung and me, they would have eventually made up their minds.

And those who haven’t made the decision yet are suffering real-time damage while still paying franchise fees.

Moreover, the skin treatment and diet programs that Haneul Clinic promotes all presuppose long-term treatment.

Spending over a million won on non-covered herbal medicine means the patient must be desperate for treatment and have made a significant commitment.

While doctors can’t cure every disease, that’s only true when the best treatment has been provided.

Advertising customized herbal medicine extensively, then giving routine prescriptions without properly listening to the patient’s underlying conditions?

It’s not like experimenting on people—causing diarrhea for three months, leading to dehydration and nutritional deficiency, yet failing to provide treatment?

When a clinic can’t cure an illness, patients go to larger hospitals, and finally to university hospitals.

But when treatment fails at a Korean medicine clinic, it’s uncommon for people to seek university-affiliated Korean medicine hospitals.

While some people do go to other famous Korean medicine clinics, psychological barriers tend to form.

‘Especially for skin conditions, many people come after trying all sorts of treatments without success.’

They might have made tens or hundreds of millions and moved on.

But what about patients who could have been cured with herbal medicine if they had received proper treatment?

What about other people who lost treatment opportunities after being told that herbal medicine has no effect?

Of course, holding Choi Eunhee responsible for that last part would be excessive.

But it was clear that she was having some negative impact, even if small.

“…Yes, you’re right.”

Choi Eunhee briefly acknowledged this and bowed her head.

She stayed still for a long while, making me wonder if she was crying, but that wasn’t the case.

She soon lifted her head and looked at me with fierce, bulging eyes.

Choi Eunhee’s lips twitched.

Would she make excuses like last time, claiming it was a patient who would have gone wrong elsewhere anyway?

Would she tear up the paper and angrily tell me to get lost?

When I came to Haneul Clinic, I thought those possibilities were much more likely.

If she were someone who would shed tears and reflect, how could she have come this far?

Still, I wanted to believe in whatever speck of conscience might remain.

And the genuine care for patients that I once respected, that certainly existed in the past.

Choi Eunhee hesitated for a long while with a face that seemed to have so much she wanted to say.

“…Let’s go have a drink.”

Finally, she spat out those words as if throwing them away.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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