By Kim Tae-jong
Visiting foreign patients will be able to buy medicine at hospitals where they receive treatment beginning today following the Cabinet passing a revision to the Pharmacist Law, Tuesday.
The law in principle separates the prescribing and the dispensing of medicines, with patients getting a prescription written by a doctor and then going to a pharmacy to buy the drugs.
Under the revision, which took effect immediately, non-resident foreign patients can receive medical services and buy medicine at hospitals.
The measure aims to help ease their inconvenience and boost medical tourism, the health authorities said. “Foreign patients who come to Korea had to get a prescription from a physician and then buy drugs at a pharmacy. It’s inconvenient for them as they are strangers and do not speak Korean,” said Kim Gi-man, an official from the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
In 2000, the Pharmacist Law was revised to specify that only pharmacists can supply pharmaceuticals to the public, with the separation of prescribing and dispensing designed to prevent the prescription of unnecessary drugs.
In addition, the separation was also aimed at preventing physicians from diagnosing as many conditions as possible and exaggerating their seriousness to sell more medication to patients.
Now a physician and dentist can both prescribe and dispense prescription-only medicines to non-resident foreign patients.
“Registered foreign residents here are not subject to the new rule as it only applies to those who come to Korea on medical tourism visas,” the official said.
In 2009, the government began to support the globalization of Korean medical institutions under the catchphrase “Medical Korea,” and launched a campaign to promote the country’s advanced services abroad. The government also made it easy for foreigners to get visas to get treatment here.
According to the health ministry, 81,789 foreign patients visited Korea for medical treatment last year, up 36 percent from a year earlier.
The total revenue from treating these patients nearly doubled to 103 billion won ($88 million) last year from 54 billion won in 2009 with each individual spending 1.3 million won on average.
“We will do our utmost to further upgrade our medical infrastructure and ease related regulations to make Korean medical facilities more appealing to medical tourists,” the ministry official said.