The bereaved family of South Korean legendary rock singer Shin Hae-chul has partially won a case against a surgeon accused of medical negligence that led to Shin’s death 2 1/2 years ago.

The Seoul Central District Court on Tuesday ordered the 46-year-old doctor, surnamed Kang, to pay some 1.6 billion won ($1.4 million) in damages to Shin’s wife and two children.

Shin’s family filed a lawsuit in May 2015, claiming that Kang did stomach reduction surgery on Shin without the patient’s consent and neglected his duty to give proper medical care despite Shin complaining of pain. They demanded 2.3 billion won in damages, but increased the amount to 4.5 billion won in litigation.

In October 2014, Shin visited a hospital for abdominal pain and received surgery from Kang. After the surgery, he fell into a coma and died of a heart attack 10 days later.

The prosecution concluded that Shin died of Kang’s medical malpractice after an autopsy. Kang’s criminal trial is currently pending at the Seoul High Court. A lower court in November sentenced him to a 10-month jail term suspended for two years.

Kang has been claiming that he was not obliged to explain the surgery procedure because he did a surgery that strengthened the stomach rather than reduced it. He also argued that Shin did not follow the doctor’s orders and left the hospital on his own accord.

By Byun Hee-jin (hjbandi9@heraldcorp.com)