630,000 Cold Medicine Tablets Used to Make Meth... Pharmacist and Korean Medicine Pharmacist Groups Trade Blame

Korean Pharmaceutical Association: "Gaps in Korean medicine pharmacists' scope of practice and medicine sales oversight"
Korean Association of Korean Medicine Pharmacists: "An individual's crime should not be generalized to an entire profession"
Both call for severe punishment... "Medicine distribution oversight must be strengthened"

A dispute has erupted between pharmacist and Korean medicine pharmacist organizations over a case in which a group was arrested for manufacturing methamphetamine using more than 630,000 tablets of cold medicine. The Korean Pharmaceutical Association called for institutional reforms, saying the case exposed shortcomings in the scope of Korean medicine pharmacists’ licenses and the system for managing medicine sales. The Korean Association of Korean Medicine Pharmacists countered that an individual’s crime should not be treated as a problem with the profession as a whole.

Cold Medicine Used to Make Methamphetamine: Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency

According to industry sources on November 4, the Korean Pharmaceutical Association and the Korean Association of Korean Medicine Pharmacists each issued a statement regarding the illegal methamphetamine manufacturing case announced by the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on November 3. Both organizations called for a thorough investigation and severe punishment of those involved, but they differed over the causes of the case and the direction of institutional reforms.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Metropolitan Investigation Division Narcotics Crime Investigation Unit previously announced that it had arrested 13 people for extracting pseudoephedrine from cold medicine to manufacture 1.36 kilograms of methamphetamine, and that four of them had been detained. The methamphetamine had an estimated street value of 4.2 billion won and was enough for about 40,000 people to use at the same time.

According to the police investigation, a Korean medicine pharmacist identified as A is suspected of selling 10,610 containers of cold medicine, containing 636,600 tablets, in the parking lot of the apartment building where A lives from January through June this year, despite knowing that the medicine was being used to manufacture drugs. A pharmacy manager and others were also arrested on suspicion of selling medicines without the required qualifications and aiding the crime.

The Korean Pharmaceutical Association said the case demonstrated problems with the scope of Korean medicine pharmacists’ licenses and the system for managing medicine sales. “The sale of medicines by Korean medicine pharmacists outside pharmacies and by unqualified persons, as well as the responsibility of pharmacy owners to manage and supervise their businesses, must all be thoroughly investigated,” the association said. It added, “This case shows that the issue of Korean medicine pharmacists’ scope of practice, which we have raised for years, is not merely a conflict between professional groups but a matter directly related to public safety in the use of medicines.”

Citing the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, which defines Korean medicine pharmacists’ scope of practice as pharmacy work related to Korean herbal medicines and herbal medicinal preparations, the association called on the government to clarify whether over-the-counter medicines containing pseudoephedrine fall within their licensed scope of practice.

It also called for the swift passage of an amendment to the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act proposed by Seo Young-seok of the Democratic Party of Korea and other lawmakers. The amendment aims to address the issue of Korean medicine pharmacists hiring pharmacists at pharmacies they have established to perform work outside the scope of the owners’ licenses.

The Korean Association of Korean Medicine Pharmacists, meanwhile, announced that it would impose severe disciplinary measures on members involved in the case, but objected to linking it to problems with the Korean medicine pharmacist licensing system itself.

“Supplying medicines while knowing they would be used to manufacture drugs is a serious criminal act that directly threatens public health,” the association said. “As soon as illegal conduct is confirmed, we will refer those involved to our ethics committee and impose the most severe disciplinary measures available.” It added, “We cannot accept attempts to use this case as a pretext to portray all Korean medicine pharmacists as a criminal group or to blame the Korean medicine pharmacist licensing system itself.”

The association also noted that pharmacists were involved in the case and argued that the Korean Pharmaceutical Association should apply the same disciplinary principles to any unlawful conduct by its own members. It said misconduct by individuals in a particular profession should not be generalized as a problem with that entire profession.

It also said the core issue in the case was the illegal diversion and misuse of medicines during large-scale distribution. The association proposed a joint response with the Korean Pharmaceutical Association, saying that the bulk-sales practices of so-called “warehouse-style pharmacies,” which have been spreading recently, should also be reviewed from the standpoint of medicine safety management.

Meanwhile, following the case, the police asked the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety to consider reclassifying cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine as prescription medicines. They also asked the Korean Pharmaceutical Association to strengthen guidance on precautions when selling cold medicine.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.