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Mayor Park Heong-joon Orders Intensive Crackdown on Illegal Pharmaceutical Distribution in Exception Areas to Protect Citizen Safety

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Busan Metropolitan City, led by Mayor Park Heong-joon, announced that from February 23 to April 30 it will carry out intensive inspections targeting illegal compounding and sales of pharmaceuticals at pharmacies and medical institutions in areas exempt from the separation of prescribing and dispensing, as well as pharmaceutical wholesalers throughout the city.

Areas exempt from the separation of prescribing and dispensing are designated to improve convenience for residents in regions where it is difficult to access both medical institutions and pharmacies. In these areas, pharmacists are permitted to compound pharmaceuticals without a prescription.

However, in some regions, there have been continuous reports of illegal activities, such as unqualified individuals compounding and selling pharmaceuticals by exploiting the exception provisions. To proactively block illegal pharmaceutical practices that threaten public health, protect citizens’ right to health, and establish a safe and sound distribution order that allows citizens to purchase pharmaceuticals with confidence, the city is conducting this inspection.

The main targets of inspection include illegal prescribing, compounding, and sales in exception areas; lending or borrowing of pharmacist licenses and brokerage of such arrangements; compounding and sales by individuals without proper qualifications; failure to designate a wholesale operations manager; and the distribution of illegal or harmful pharmaceuticals, as well as violations of pharmaceutical safety management regulations.

If violations are identified during the inspection, the city plans to take strict measures, including filing criminal charges and pursuing administrative actions through the competent authorities.

Under the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, lending or borrowing a pharmacist license, or arranging such lending, as well as the sale of pharmaceuticals by unqualified individuals, may be punishable by up to five years of imprisonment or a fine of up to 50 million won.

In addition, failure to designate a wholesale operations manager or negligence in quality control duties, and the sale of pharmaceuticals outside a pharmacy, may result in up to three years of imprisonment or a fine of up to 30 million won. Violations of pharmaceutical distribution quality management standards may be subject to up to one year of imprisonment or a fine of up to 10 million won.

Meanwhile, the Special Judicial Police Division of Busan Metropolitan City is receiving reports from citizens regarding violations of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act. Reports may be submitted to the Public Health Investigation Team of the Special Judicial Police Division at 051-888-3104 to 3106.

Mayor Park Heong-joon stated, “Through this inspection, we expect to enhance transparency in the system of exception areas for the separation of prescribing and dispensing and to block illegal distribution and management structures among pharmaceutical wholesalers. As these exception areas are intended to serve residents in medically underserved regions, the credibility of the system must not be undermined by the illegal acts of a few. We will do our utmost to create a sound pharmaceutical distribution environment so that citizens can purchase safe pharmaceuticals with confidence.”