Doctor X: Mafia in White achieves high ratings amid medical accuracy debate

The South Korean medical drama ‘Doctor X: Mafia in White’, starring Kim Ji-won, has achieved significant commercial success following its premiere on SBS. According to Nielsen Korea, the series saw a rapid rise in viewership, growing from an 11.4% rating in its first episode to 14.9% in the second. The show, a Korean adaptation of a Japanese series, also reached the number one spot on Netflix’s non-English TV chart.

Despite the high ratings, the production has faced criticism regarding medical accuracy. Viewers and medical professionals have questioned specific scenes, including the handling of inguinal hernia surgeries, blood pressure monitoring during emergencies, and the use of 300J defibrillation on cardiac arrest patients.

Namgung In, an emergency medicine physician who served as a medical consultant for the series, addressed the controversy on social media. He explained that he provided on-site consultation but noted that if medical inaccuracies appear, it is often because “the consultant and the production team disagreed, and the consultant lost the argument.” The production team has maintained that the series is a fictional work intended for dramatic effect.