By October at the latest, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety plans to revise the Medical Devices Act so that medical devices purchasable by consumers are henceforth required to be sold with price tags attached. (Image: Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Feb. 27 (Korea Bizwire) – By October at the latest, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety plans to revise the Medical Devices Act so that medical devices purchasable by consumers are henceforth required to be sold with prices on display.
The reason necessitating the price display scheme is the continual harm suffered by consumers, in particular the elderly and women, who fall prey to medical devices dealers who set up pop-up “medical device trial stations” and with deceitful marketing and sly sales tactics sell their products at inflated prices.
The reason necessitating the price tag scheme is the continual harm suffered by consumers, in particular the elderly and women, who fall prey to medical devices dealers who set up pop-up “medical device trial stations” and with deceitful marketing and sly sales tactics sell their products at inflated prices. (Image: Yonhap)
These sales entities dupe their buyers by overly exaggerating their products’ capabilities and advertising industrial-use equipment as household medical devices.
For instance, one company in the city of Uijeongbu operated a medical device trial station where they falsely advertised medical body vibration devices as being effective for diabetes treatment and skin regeneration to elderly customers in their 60s through 80s.
Medical body vibration devices are used to alleviate minor muscle pains by delivering varying levels of physical energy into the body – through vibrations and pressure – and do not possess any other known health benefits.
The government predicts consumers will be less likely to pay more than they should once prices are on display along with the devices.
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety will also carry out a study to ascertain the highest and lowest prices of specific medical devices and list the findings on its website for consumer benefit.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
