Doctors clash over license for herb pills

Doctors of Oriental medicine destroy a model of the Korea Food and Drug Administration to show their frustration over its recent decision to allow Western medicine doctors to prescribe herb-based pills during a rally near Seoul Station, Thursday. Korea Times photo by Kim Joo-young

By Na Jeong-ju

The long-standing conflict between doctors of Oriental and Western medicine is resurfacing over who should have the right to prescribe newly-developed pills that contain herbal mixtures, considered a lucrative business.

Drug regulators recently allowed doctors practicing Western medicine to prescribe the pills, triggering a wave of protests from doctors of Oriental medicine.

“The pills are a mixture of medicinal herbs so only Oriental medicine doctors can prescribe them,” said Ahn Jae-gyu, head of an emergency committee representing some 20,000 Oriental medicine doctors in the country.

“The Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA) should withdraw the decision, which could ruin the Oriental medicine industry and pose a serious risk to public health.”

Western doctors, however, claim they have invested a huge amount of money to develop the technology for the pills.

“Oriental medicine doctors think only they can deal with herbs. That’s a serious misunderstanding,” the Korean Medical Association, which represents some 110,000 doctors, said in a statement. “They should know that the pills are the result of years of a joint investment by pharmaceutical firms and doctors of Western medicine.”

On Thursday, thousands of Oriental medicine doctors and college students studying Oriental medicine held a rally near the Seoul Station to urge the KFDA to ban doctors of Western medicine from prescribing the herbal pills. Ahn said many Oriental medicine clinics nationwide closed for the day to show their frustration over the government’s medicinal policy.

According to industry sources, there are currently seven kinds of herbal pills on sale to treat problems such as arthritis and gastritis. The pills are made of various powdered herbs, including acanthopanax and angelica roots. About 60 more kinds of pills are now being developed

Oriental medicine doctors plan to hold more rallies nationwide in the coming weeks to protest against what they claim is a discriminative policy by the KFDA.

During Thursday’s rally, the participants destroyed a mock KFDA building, chanting “Scrap the KFDA. Destroy the KFDA.”

The Ministry of Health and Welfare said it will hold discussions with Oriental doctors to narrow differences.

“We will hear opinions from both sides to come up with the best possible measures. Negotiations will continue until they find a common ground,” said ministry official Lee Chang-jun.