By Kim Tae-jong
The government’s plan to allow the sale of painkillers and cold medicines at convenience stores is on hold due to opposition from pharmacists and lawmakers.
Expectations were high over the sale of non-prescription drugs at places other than pharmacies as the Korean Pharmaceutical Association (KPA) announced last December they would halt their opposition to the plan and discuss the matter with the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
They tentatively agreed on the sales of non-prescription drugs at places other than pharmacies on the condition that only certain drugs should be sold at limited places that operate around the clock.
However, the plan has turned sour since late January. KPA members expressed strong opposition to the decision by their executive board, resulting in a fierce internal conflict. The executive board held an emergency meeting on Jan. 26 with the participation of some 300 members to ask them if they supported the decision, but failed to come up with a final resolution.
“We have been unable to reach a consensus on the matter. But we are going to reflect the various opinions of representatives to overcome the current stalemate,” said Kim Gu, president of the KPA.
They will form a special committee in a bid to make a breakthrough, with the priority placed at minimizing the adverse impact on KPA members, he said.
The plan for the sale of OTC drugs at retail outlets is aimed at easing accessibility to medicines as most pharmacies close at night and during holidays. Most people want to buy comparatively safe medication at supermarkets and convenience stores.
Along with pharmacists, lawmakers have turned a deaf ear to people’s demands. They have not submitted the necessary bill to the National Assembly, although it received approval at a Cabinet meeting last September.
Siding with pharmacists, legislators are concerned over losing votes from one of the most influential lobby groups in the upcoming elections.
The majority of the members from the Welfare and Health Committee of the Assembly — both ruling and opposition lawmakers alike — agreed to oppose the bill, citing concerns about drug abuse and side effects.
However, doctors and civic groups are mounting pressure on them to pass the bill. The Korean Medical Association, the lobbying group for doctors, issued Sunday a statement for the passage of the bill, claiming that the sale of the selected OTC drugs at places other than pharmacies would cause no major safety problems.
“We urge the National Assembly to pass the revised bill immediately,” the association said.
Civic groups are also denouncing the legislators’ hesitance to submit the revision bill, with some groups pledging they will launch a campaign to deter lawmakers deemed responsible for the stalemate from being nominated as candidates in the April parliamentary election.
“It’s a promise made to the people. Legislators should have the revised bill approved at an extraordinary session of the National Assembly in February,” the Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice said in a statement. “If the Assembly fails to pass the revised bill, it will face stern judgment from the people.”
According to a recent survey by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, over 83 percent of respondents said they supported the sale of household medicines at supermarkets and convenience stores.
The health ministry has pledged to push forward a bill to revise the Pharmaceutical Law as they cannot be simply categorized as “quasi-drugs” due to safety issues.