A Korean-American plastic surgeon in Colorado has been convicted of attempted manslaughter.
On June 14, a jury found Dr. Geoffrey Kim, 54, guilty of leaving a teenage patient in cardiac arrest for more than five hours, according to Arapahoe County prosecutors.
On August 1, 2019, the victim, Emmalyn Nguyen, who was then 18 and had just graduated from high school, went to Kim’s Colorado Aesthetic & Plastic Surgery in Greenwood Village for breast augmentation surgery.
However, after being given anesthesia, Nguyen suffered cardiac arrest 15 minutes later, and despite attempts by medical personnel to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), she did not regain consciousness.
According to prosecutors, Kim left the victim on the operating table for five and a half hours and did not call 911. Nguyen remained in a coma for 14 months before passing away in October 2020.
Kim’s defense argued that Rex Meeker, a nurse anesthetist, was responsible. However, Meeker testified that he urged Kim to call 911, and the jury found Kim guilty.
Kim, who was also ordered to pay $1 million in compensation to the family, could face up to three years in prison when he is finally sentenced on September 8.
BY YEJIN KIM [support@koreadaily.com]
