Pharmacists, doctors in turf war

By Kim Tae-jong

A turf war between pharmacists and doctors over who sells what drug is becoming uglier, ahead of a policy-setting meeting on Tuesday.

Pharmacists have pledged to oppose the government’s recent move to allow the sale of some non-prescription drugs at places other than pharmacies.

“The government is pushing forward the plan in an undemocratic way,” Kim Gu, president of the Korea Pharmaceutical Association (KPA), said during an executive meeting on Saturday. “The government is manipulating public opinion by overemphasizing convenience over safety.”

He also said they will express their opposition against the government’s move at the second subcommittee of the Central Pharmaceutical Affairs Council on Tuesday. There representatives for pharmacists and doctors, as well as citizens will discuss details of the government’s plan.

Pharmacists’ strong opposition came after the government decided to reclassify relatively safe 44 non-prescription drugs, including antiseptic ointments and digestive drinks as “non-drugs” so that retail stores can sell them.

They also oppose another government plan to revise a law to create a third category of “household medicine” to allow other non-prescription or over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, including painkillers and cold medicines, to be sold outside pharmacies.

Under the current law, consumers can only buy all drugs at pharmacies, but critics say that such a restriction has increased consumer inconvenience as most pharmacies are closed at night and on holidays.

Pharmacists warn that medicine should only be dealt with by pharmacists, citing various pharmacological attributes. But such claims seem to have lost steam among the public because they are seen as a struggle to keep drug sales from falling.

The non-prescription drug market accounts for about 15 percent of the total sales of medicines, according to recent statistics.

Meanwhile, doctors oppose the government’s move to re-categorize prescription drugs as non-prescription so that pharmacists can sell them without prescription. Pharmacists claim that about 1,200 prescription drugs can be categorized as non-prescription, such as Viagra, Xenical and post-coital contraception medicine, arguing that too many drugs are categorized as prescription medicines.

But the Korean Medical Association (KMA) criticized the pharmacists’ demands, citing various side effects.

The KMA initially planned to take collective action against the government’s move and pharmacists’ demands, which negatively affect their business as the increase in the number and types of non-prescription drugs will allow customers to buy more drugs from pharmacies without having to visit the doctor.

But amid growing public criticism against doctors and pharmacists for their attempts to protect self-interests, the KMA decided to take a step back.

“We decided to postpone our general meeting as our plan and request can be seen as a selfish collective action. We will keep an eye on how things develop first,” Kyung Man-ho, president of the KMA said in a statement, Sunday.