Doctors and Korean traditional medicine practitioners are clashing head-on over a bill that would allow licensed Korean medicine doctors to use X-ray machines. The photo shows a chest examination being performed with an X-ray device. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Nov. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s medical community is escalating its confrontation with the Lee Jae-myung administration and the National Assembly over a set of health-care policy proposals that physicians argue threaten patient safety and undermine established medical standards.
At the center of the dispute are three initiatives: mandatory ingredient-based prescriptions, stricter oversight of outsourced laboratory testing, and a bill that would allow licensed Korean medicine doctors to use X-ray machines.
Doctors’ groups say the measures, advanced in recent weeks by both the government and lawmakers across party lines, amount to a sweeping overhaul of medical practice enacted without sufficient consultation.
On Nov. 16, the Korean Medical Association (KMA) convened a mass rally outside the National Assembly, calling the legislation “medical malpractice laws” and warning of a nationwide strike if the government proceeds.
“Mandating ingredient-based prescriptions dismantles the very principles of Korea’s separation of prescribing and dispensing,” KMA President Kim Taek-woo said. “Allowing Korean medicine doctors to use X-rays undermines the licensing system itself. These policies are the result of reckless legislative overreach.”
On November 16, representatives of physicians gather in front of the National Assembly for a rally titled “National Physicians’ Assembly to Protect Public Health and Oppose Harmful Medical Legislation.” (Photo courtesy of the Korean Medical Association)
A Clash Over Drug Pricing and Safety
The Ministry of Health and Welfare is promoting ingredient-based prescribing as a way to reduce drug spending by allowing pharmacies to dispense cheaper equivalents with the same active compound.
Physician groups counter that even small differences in manufacturing or additives can affect efficacy and safety, and warn that pharmacist-driven substitutions could confuse patients and increase the risk of medication errors.
Pharmacist associations, however, argue the reform would curb entrenched rebate practices between doctors and drugmakers and ultimately benefit patients through lower prices.
Doctors walk at a general hospital in Seoul. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
Tighter Controls on Outsourced Lab Testing
Another proposal would tighten standards for outsourced diagnostic testing—bloodwork, urine analysis and other procedures often handled by independent laboratories. The government says the reform is needed to prevent quality lapses and rein in the proliferation of low-cost testing agencies.
Small and medium-sized hospitals say the stricter rules would raise operating costs and limit access to essential diagnostic services, especially in rural areas.
But lawmakers have cited persistent problems of illegal rebates, subcontracting chains, and bid-rigging among testing companies as evidence that stronger oversight is overdue.
An x-ray image being examined by a doctor (Image courtesy of Freerange Stock/CCL)
Debate Over Korean Medicine Doctors and X-ray Use
Perhaps the most contentious issue is a legislative move that would allow Korean medicine practitioners—who are legally barred from using modern diagnostic imaging—to operate X-ray equipment.
Medical doctors argue that Korean and Western medical systems are based on fundamentally different educational frameworks, warning that insufficient radiological training could result in misdiagnosis and endanger patients.
Korean medicine groups counter that the ban forces patients to make redundant visits to hospitals for simple imaging tests, increasing costs and inconvenience. Allowing X-ray use, they say, would streamline care and improve patient satisfaction.
Growing Public Frustration
The debate has widened beyond the medical community. In an editorial this week, the Dong-A Ilbo criticized physicians for opposing a broad array of reforms—from regional doctor placement to telemedicine and emergency-care legislation—without offering viable alternatives.
“Korea’s health-care system is facing unsustainable pressures,” the paper wrote. “If the medical profession continues to reject needed changes without presenting solutions, the consequences will ultimately return to the doctors themselves.”
As the government prepares to advance the bills during the current legislative session, the standoff shows little sign of easing. The KMA says its 140,000 members are prepared for “full-scale collective action,” raising the prospect of renewed health-care disruptions as the administration pursues its reform agenda.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
