SBS drama Doctor X: Mafia in White is drawing attention not only for its strong ratings, but also for a growing debate over how realistically some of its medical scenes are portrayed.
The series opened with 11.4% nationwide ratings and rose to 14.9% for its second episode, according to Nielsen Korea.
However, some viewers with medical knowledge have questioned several scenes and argued that certain emergency procedures did not appear medically accurate.
One viewer criticized the handling of a hernia case and an emergency involving a patient with unmeasurable blood pressure, questioning whether the medical decisions shown in the drama matched real clinical practice.
Another viewer also pointed to a defibrillation scene and expressed frustration over what they believed was an unrealistic setting.
The discussion became more noticeable after emergency medicine doctor and writer Namkoong In, who participated as an on-site medical adviser for the drama, responded to a viewer online.
When asked whether he really served as a medical consultant, he replied jokingly, *“Yes, I was the on-site adviser. If something medically incorrect appears, you can assume that the adviser and the production team argued, and the adviser lost.”*
His lighthearted comment drew reactions from viewers, with some joking that the medical adviser appeared to have *“lost badly.”*
The remarks do not confirm that every criticized scene was medically incorrect, but they added to the discussion over how much creative freedom the production may have taken with its medical details.
Despite the debate, Doctor X: Mafia in White continues to perform strongly in ratings, making the contrast between its popularity and the criticism over medical realism one of the drama’s early talking points.
