Background of plan to separate roles of doctors, pharmacists

The government policy on separating the professional roles of doctors and pharmacists dealt a severe blow to the nation`s medical insurance system. It is even considered to fetter the government of President Kim Dae-Jung. It had been pursued as one of the key policy goals of the government, which was designed to prevent drug abuse and reduce medical costs. But, it is now viewed as a car running without a brake. –- Ed.

Repeated controversy:

Separating the prescribing and dispensing of medicines was one of President Kim`s election pledges. It was included in the list of 100 major policies that was designated by the presidential transition team. The Ministry of Health and Welfare formed a committee to pursue the issue in May 1998 with representatives of pharmacists` and doctors` groups, as the system was supposed to be implemented on Jul. 1, 1999. After a three-month-long discussion, the committee decided to enforce the system for all hospitals and pharmacies as scheduled. The minister at that time was Kim Mo-Im, but assistant minister Choi Sun-Jung, the current minister, led the entire process. The proposal, which calls for all-out implementation of the system worked out by the committee, was different from the previous one which had been controversial since the 1960s. The national medical policy screening committee under then President Roh Tae-Woo and the medical reform committee under the government of former President Kim Young-Sam proposed step-by-step implementation of the system. The implementation of a plan that even the military governments failed to realize was set for July 1994-July 1999, as stipulated in its additional rules after the 1994 dispute over the dispensing of Chinese medicine. The system could have been delayed by simply revising the additional rules. But the government decided to go ahead with the system. Both the ruling party and the government did not oppose the reform proposal on the grounds that it would reduce drug abuse.

The ruling party is to start the system:

Since the end of November 1998, both medical institutions and pharmacies petitioned to postpone implementation of the new system. But civil groups protested. President Kim also ordered on Dec. 3 to implement the system under the leadership of the ruling party. Prior to this, the policy committee of the ruling party created a planning group for advancement and efficient operation of the medical system in July of that year. And it announced a policy on health and medical care in December. The planning group evaluated that the separation of the professional roles of doctors and pharmacists was far more meaningful than just to prevent drug abuse and divide the functions of prescribing and dispensing medicines. It also said the system would serve as important momentum to change the distribution of pharmaceuticals, normalize medical insurance and correct the national health care system. At that time, the chairman of the ruling party`s policy committee was Kim Won-Gil, the chairman of the policy planning group was Kim Sang-Hyun and the vice chairmen of the group were Lee Sung-Jae and Kim Yong-Ik, professor of the Seoul National University. The ruling party`s plan called for forcibly including hospitals on the list of target institutions that had to implement the plan. However, the original government plan changed under the influence of the political sphere.