Pharmaceutical Association: “We need to strengthen restrictions on the number of days for non-face-to-face treatment”

Criticism of amendments to medical law enforcement rules... “Emergency contraceptives should be included in the ban”

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Park Sang-hyun = In response to the government's announcement of a revised medical law enforcement rule that includes patients eligible for non-face-to-face treatment and drug prescription standards, Korean pharmacists urged on the 19th to strengthen restrictions on the number of days for non-face-to-face treatment and drug prescriptions.

In a statement released on this day, the Korean Pharmaceutical Association criticized, “The amendment includes provisions that loosen the safety measures established by the law,” and said, “It is necessary to limit the number of prescription days for both first and repeat visits to non-face-to-face treatment.”

In the revised medical law enforcement regulations, the Ministry of Health and Welfare limited the number of days for drug prescriptions to 7 days for first-time non-face-to-face treatment, and allowed up to 30 days at a time at the doctor's discretion.

If a patient has received face-to-face treatment for the same symptoms within 6 months at a medical institution eligible for non-face-to-face treatment, he or she is classified as a ‘general’ (returning) patient. Otherwise, he or she is classified as a ‘first visit’ patient.

The Pharmaceutical Association requested, “As the one-time maximum 30-day prescription is applied by adding up prescriptions from multiple medical institutions, the 7-day limit must be maintained until a non-face-to-face treatment support system that can check prescription history in real time is established.”

He added, “The number of days for exceptional prescriptions should be reduced to 14 days, not 30 days.”

The Pharmaceutical Association said, “The amendment does not place any upper limit on the number of prescription days for repeat visits,” and requested that “a limit on the number of prescription days of up to 60 days per visit should be specified for non-face-to-face treatment.”

The Pharmaceutical Association stated that emergency contraceptives should be added to the list of drugs prohibited from prescription for non-face-to-face treatment and that practical supervision and sanctions should be implemented on private platforms for non-face-to-face treatment.

The government plans to finalize the revised medical law enforcement regulations by collecting external opinions. Non-face-to-face medical treatment will be allowed from December 24 in line with the implementation of the revised Medical Service Act.