It Seems It Was About This Person
The president of the Korean Medicine Science Association, Baek Hyeon-yeong, watched today's special session from the very back row.
As the person in charge of the event, she couldn't just sit through every lecture she wanted to hear, but there was something she had to verify.
"The case I will present today is a 10-year-old female patient with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, Type I. First, I will briefly explain the patient's basic information and medical history."
Upon hearing the speaker's first sentence, her tension dissolved instantly.
'He’s just In Gyeong-hak when he was young.'
He wouldn't be unaware of the controversy surrounding this event.
The seminar hall was packed to the point where there wasn't an inch of space to stand, and the eyes of many in the audience were filled with skepticism.
As if to say, "Go ahead and try to convince me."
So, even though he should be at least a little intimidated...
"The patient was in good health until the onset of the disease. Two years ago, during a school physical activity, she suffered a spiral fracture of the right fibula. The surgery went without issues, but two weeks later, the pain worsened, and redness, edema, and allodynia began to occur."
His pronunciation was precise, and his speaking pace was perfect.
His tone, as he pointed out the relevant details with a laser pointer, was devoid of any excess and overflowed with confidence.
The exquisite balance between the attitude of an experienced clinician and a precise scholar was a dead ringer for In Gyeong-hak.
'I worried for nothing.'
The intellectual woman in her 50s, whose short hair was beginning to show streaks of white, stood up quietly.
There was nothing more to see.
The paper was perfect, and her only concern had been that he might have exaggerated his achievements out of youthful bravado.
Therefore, what she had come to see was not the content of the presentation, but his attitude.
'Gyeong-hak... he really raised someone just like himself.'
She turned around quietly and slipped out of the seminar hall so as not to disturb the lecture.
Even after Baek Hyeon-yeong left, the lecture continued like a flowing stream.
"These are the results of the infrared thermography. Looking at the test results from last August, the temperature of the right lower extremity is 2.5 degrees lower than that of the trunk."
And people, when they see the same thing, are bound to have similar impressions.
The speaker's confident demeanor.
Every time he presented a piece of data, one could feel that he had completely mastered the content, and there was no hesitation in his explanations.
By the time he began to present the treatment process...
"August 15th. These are the acupoints combined on the day I received a call that the child was having a pain attack and performed the procedure at the patient's home. Starting from this day, I changed the order of point selection from the trunk toward the extremities, and from that day on, the change in NRS immediately after needling jumped from a 2-3 reduction to a 4-5 reduction."
The audience became increasingly immersed, and filled with admiration.
'If it was at the patient's home, does that mean he rushed over after hearing the child was in pain?'
'To think the effect changes that much depending on the order of point selection. This is a perspective I hadn't considered...'
'Who on earth is he? The author's profile... Ah, since it's an added session, it's not in the booklet.'
The many graduates of Gyeong-hyeon University sitting in the room began to puff out their chests with pride.
"I told you he was the senior I was talking about. The one who calmed a heart attack patient in the ER with acupuncture!"
"Whoa, really? So that's why everyone called him a legend."
Among them were the acupuncture resident who had been stunned by Gyeong-woo's acupuncture in the ER, and his colleagues.
'His skills have truly improved dramatically. It wasn't a coincidence that he stopped that eye twitching with a single needle to the Seung-eup point that day.'
There was also a specialist colleague who had gone all the way down to Goesan to worry about Gyeong-woo, only to lose a bet and return.
'This kid...'
There was also a teacher moved by the growth of his cherished student.
"With this, I conclude the presentation of the clinical case of a pediatric CRPS patient through acupuncture treatment and herbal medicine."
Clap, clap, clap, clap—
Those who were impressed sent a round of loud applause.
"I will take questions for the remaining 20 minutes."
However, there were still many in the audience who had no intention of unfolding their arms crossed over their chests.
"I watched the lecture with great interest. However, since this study is a report of a single case, the issue of reproducibility is bound to be raised. And how can you be sure that the child improved due to the Korean medicine intervention?"
The first questioner threw out the challenge.
Gyeong-woo nodded lightly and flipped through a few slides to bring up the page where the patient's chart was scanned.
The chart, with the child's personal information blacked out, recorded the progress of every treatment in detail.
Pointing to it with his pointer, Gyeong-woo smiled faintly.
"To summarize, you're asking if she just got better because it was time for her to get better."
Small bursts of laughter erupted here and there in the audience.
"Such suspicion is, of course, possible. I will explain the answer to that question with the chart. August 15th, NRS 9, reduced to 6 immediately after the procedure."
Click—
"August 21st, reduced from 7 to 3."
Click—
"September 1st, a seizure with less pain than before. NRS 8, reduced to 4 immediately after the procedure."
Click— Click—
"October 14th, reduced from 6 to 1."
"November 11th, reduced from 5 to 1."
Click—
"After December, there was no recurrence of pain NRS 3 or higher."
Eyes were glued to the screen as if bewitched.
"If you look only at the overall results, it might look that way, but the daily charts do not lie. If a person with a headache takes Tylenol and the pain stops 30 minutes later? No one would suspect, 'Didn't the painkiller just happen to kick in when it was time for the headache to go away?'"
Gyeong-woo placed the pointer firmly on the podium.
"The change in symptoms immediately after every procedure, and the long-term downward trend of the graph, prove that the 'medical intervention' applied was effective for the patient. In this case, it is acupuncture and herbal medicine."
Gong Cha-young, sitting in the front row, felt a tingle of goosebumps on her arms.
"Of course, if you ask me whether the same results will occur if the same procedure is performed on another patient... well, I can't know that without trying."
Gyeong-woo shrugged his shoulders.
"But isn't that what medicine is originally? No one can guarantee a complete cure, and that is why we leave the effective methods as data to serve as guidelines for the treatment of other patients."
This paper was not published to show off that 'I can treat CRPS.'
He simply published the paper hoping that the fact that this treatment method was effective would serve as a reference for other Korean medicine doctors who would see CRPS patients in the future.
Those obvious and humble words touched the souls of the listeners.
Several more questions followed.
"What led you to believe that the Sin-ju and Myeong-mun points were the keys to the treatment?"
"You said you used real wild ginseng in the herbal medicine, but was the patient able to afford the cost?"
"If she's a 10-year-old child, she would have a resistance to needles; were there any difficulties in the treatment?"
The answers to those questions also followed without hesitation.
Now, there were 5 minutes left in the Q&A session.
Some attendees were glancing at each other.
In fact, the question that was bound to come up hadn't been asked yet, but because the speaker's attitude was so confident, it wasn't easy to ask it.
Eventually, Hospital Director Seong Jae-yeong raised his hand.
"I have a question. If this paper is true as stated, it would be a candidate for paper of the year. However, there has been a lot of controversy online and offline since this session was announced. Is this data really accurate? Were there any other Western medical interventions during that period? Is there any way to prove this part?"
Murmur, murmur—
A commotion stirred within the lecture hall.
Gong Cha-young clenched her fists in indignation, while other Korean medicine doctors wore expressions that were a mix of discomfort and a sense of relief.
In the end, it was a question that had to come out at least once, no matter who asked it.
'Are they going to start a fight?'
People watched Gyeong-woo's complexion keenly.
In fact, it was a blatantly rude question.
The words were polite, but it was no different from raising suspicions to his face, asking, "Isn't this a fake paper?"
But he looked unexpectedly calm.
However, just before the speaker opened his mouth,
"I would like to answer that question."
Someone in the front row stood up.
The moment he turned his body back, everyone recognized him.
The face of Gyeong-hyeon University Korean Medicine Hospital, a famous figure in the Korean medicine community whom everyone knew.
It was Professor In Gyeong-hak.
Murmur—
'Why is Professor In Gyeong-hak...'
Those who didn't know why rolled their eyes in curiosity.
When Gyeong-woo nodded in agreement, a staff member brought him a microphone.
In Gyeong-hak, holding it in his hand, bowed his head once toward the audience.
"My name is In Gyeong-hak, and I work at Gyeong-hyeon University Korean Medicine Hospital. I am the former advisor of this speaker."
Seong Jae-yeong's face, who had asked the question, stiffened, but In Gyeong-hak's gaze did not turn toward him, but settled over the entire lecture hall.
"First, this researcher has been a Korean medicine doctor with a passion for research since his days as a resident. He has a history of submitting three SCI papers even during his residency, when time is tight."
Stir—
At those words, the audience, who had still been unable to shake off their doubts, showed interest.
'He wrote SCI papers before? Three of them?'
'He's Professor In Gyeong-hak's student? If that strict person is coming out to defend him so openly...'
It was the moment when his credibility soared.
Professor In Gyeong-hak's tone changed.
"However, in truth, the question of why such an explanation is even necessary comes to my mind first. Of course, the world of academia is strict, and a paper should not have even a shred of exaggeration or falsehood.
But asking to prove that the data isn't fake just because the treatment results are too good—how is that any different from asking someone to prove they didn't cheat just because their test scores were too high?"
The audience, who had hoped for the refreshing truth to be revealed out of interest, avoided In Gyeong-hak's gaze, looking a bit embarrassed.
"I feel a sense of regret. I wonder if such suspicion comes from the state of affairs where we, as Korean medicine doctors, are increasingly unable to trust Korean medicine ourselves..."
Seong Jae-yeong's fists clenched so tightly they seemed to be digging into his palms.
"Nevertheless, for those who need proof, I guarantee it. This speaker is a Korean medicine doctor whom I consider my top student, and he has never disappointed me in any part of his achievements in acupuncture or his sincerity in dealing with patients. If there is even a shred of manipulation in this paper, I will take responsibility for it as well."
'Professor...'
Gyeong-woo looked at the back of his teacher, who stood firmly between the crowd and himself.
"Therefore, I ask that you refrain from casting baseless suspicions on the name of a researcher with a bright future. That is all."
And so, the special session ended.
-Please refrain from further suspicion.
There was a heartfelt statement from Professor In Gyeong-hak, but it did not reach the hearts of everyone in the world.
-So how did the CRPS session go today? I really wanted to hear it, but I couldn't go because my kid had a high fever this morning T_T
-The K-University professors had a battle. One sniped and one defended lol
-So what's the truth? Did they say all the data is real?
-They claim so, but I'm still skeptical... He did look really confident, but who knows if they're being scammed while knowing they're being scammed.
-Please stop the baseless slander. A luminary in the Korean medicine community even put his own name on the line to guarantee it.
-Isn't it a national rule that if you guarantee something, you go bankrupt lol
Originally, such sensitive issues waited for the anonymous boards to rise, but perhaps because their adrenaline was soaring due to today's events, related content was being posted on the discussion board one after another.
-Isn't it a simple matter of just contacting the Western medicine hospital that produced those test results and asking if they performed the procedure or not?
-Are you determined to disgrace the Korean medicine community? And even if the paper is real, would Western medicine honestly admit it? They're a group that hates Korean medicine.
-If it passes like this and Western medicine discovers this paper later and attacks it, isn't that a bigger problem?
-But putting that all aside, they wouldn't tell you because it's the patient's personal information... You all have wild delusions.
Watching the chaotic battle, Gong Cha-young was at a loss, feeling frustrated.
'Ha, I want to write a post saying that I witnessed all the facts...!'
Even with Professor In Gyeong-hak's guarantee, they're still acting like that, so what meaning would the words of a public health doctor like me have?
If I, the second author, were to step up, it would only cause more controversy, with people saying we're just covering for each other.
'Still, it's so frustrating!'
Gong Cha-young was the type who didn't care much about what others said about her own affairs, but she was furious that the best clinician she had ever seen was being subjected to such absurd attacks.
Just as she was thinking that she had to write a post out of anger, regardless of efficiency,
Click—
A new post appeared at the top of the refreshed screen.
'...?'
Gong Cha-young clicked on the post.
The post from the newly appeared party began like this:
When I asked what he meant, he said...
Gong Cha-young, who read through the post, felt a thrill.
This was definitely the story of her senior.