Doctor Cha Under Criticism After Latest Episode Tackling Crohn's Disease

 TV Report

JTBC hit series, Doctor Cha, is under fire for misrepresenting Crohn's Disease.

On May 9, a JTBC official stated in TV Report,

We are discussing this with the production team because we are receiving inquiries about the scene dealing with Crohn’s disease in ‘Doctor Cha'.

In the show's 7th episode, a new patient with Crohn's Disease was introduced. Crohn's Disease is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease that causes swelling in the digestive tract. In one particular scene, the patient's in-laws were shown saying negative things such as, "How can you hide such a terrible disease? and "I heard the disease can be inherited".

When this scene was aired, patients and relatives of patients with Crohn's Disease reacted. They were unhappy with the inaccurate portrayal of the disease and the negative words used to describe it.

The drama's bulletin board had viewers demanding an apology and correction from the production team. Some comments include,

If you don’t know about the disease, don’t write it.  

If it’s not a medical drama, you should remove the word ‘doctor’ from the title.  

My child has Crohn’s Disease. Why are you making my kid who was doing well feel pessimistic?

Meanwhile, Doctor Cha is gaining popularity as it has entered the top 15 highest rated cable drama of all time.