Supreme Court: “Posting ‘BEST Drugs’ on the Doctor Now app is an advertisement for pharmaceutical products… a violation of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act”
Quick Look
- The Supreme Court determined that the posting of 'BEST drugs' on the Dr.
- Now app constitutes a violation of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act and confirmed a suspended sentence of 3 million won in fines.
- Regardless of the commercial purpose, the act of providing pharmaceutical information to an unspecified number of people is itself considered advertising.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
The investigation began in 2022 when medical groups such as the Gyeonggi Province Pharmaceutical Association reported Dr. Now's 'get a prescription for the medicine you want' service. The police decided not to forward the charges except for violating the ban on advertising of prescription drugs.
The Supreme Court confirmed that non-face-to-face medical treatment platform Dr. Now posted certain prescription drugs as 'BEST drugs' on its application (app), which constituted a violation of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act.
According to the legal community on the 8th, the 2nd Division of the Supreme Court (Chief Justice Oh Gyeong-mi) confirmed on the 8th of last month the original trial decision that postponed the sentencing of a fine of 3 million won each to Dr. Now and former CEO A, who were indicted on charges of violating the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act.
In May 2022, Dr. Now became controversial by posting specific prescription drugs for each disease, such as skin, acne, hair loss, diet, artificial tears, and allergies, under the 'BEST drug' service in the 'Get a prescription for the drug you want' section of the app.
If you click on a drug, you can see the drug name, effect, price, and detailed reviews from other patients. If you put the prescription drug you want in your shopping cart and request a prescription, you can receive a prescription for the drug through non-face-to-face treatment.
Prosecutors believed that such services constituted a violation of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, which prohibits advertising of prescription drugs, and indicted the CEO and corporation of Dr. Now in 2024.
The first trial accepted the prosecution's argument and found them guilty of the charges.
The first trial judged that the service did not simply provide drug information, but was linked to the 'get a prescription for the drug you want' service, allowing patients to directly select and receive prescription drugs before the doctor's decision.
As the number of prescription drugs for which 'BEST drugs' provides information is only a small number for each disease, there was ample room for patients to misunderstand that the drugs introduced were the most effective and excellent drugs, and the fact that the number of prescriptions for drugs introduced in that way was overwhelmingly high was also cited as evidence.
Dr. Now claimed that it had no commercial purpose and that it was not a 'prescription drug advertisement,' but following the second trial, it was not accepted by the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court said, "'Advertising' in Article 68, Paragraph 6, Item 1 of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, which prohibits advertising of prescription drugs, means any means or an act of using such means to spread information about prescription drugs, such as the name, manufacturing method, efficacy, and performance, etc., to an unspecified number of people. It does not require that there be a motive or purpose for profit."
Previously, an investigation was conducted when medical groups, including the Gyeonggi Province Pharmaceutical Association, reported Dr. Now's 'get a prescription for the medicine you want' service in 2022. However, the police decided not to forward the charges except for violating the ban on advertising of prescription drugs.
Open Questions
- How has Dr. Now’s current service operation status changed?
- What specific impact will this ruling have on other non-face-to-face treatment platforms?
