"Is It Safe for Our Child to Get Growth Injections?"... Rapid Increase in Side Effects

Side Effect Cases Rise Sharply Compared to Prescription Numbers
Sik-aek Clinic: "Effectiveness of Growth Injection Not Confirmed"

As prescriptions for "height-increasing drugs" and "height-increasing injections," specifically growth hormone injections costing up to 1.35 million KRW per dose, have increased, cases of side effects have also risen. The increase in side effect cases was steeper than the rise in prescription numbers; while prescriptions grew 3.5 times, side effect cases increased fivefold.

According to data received on the 28th by Shin Hyun-young, a member of the National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, the number of growth hormone injection prescriptions in 2022 was 190,191, which is 3.5 times the 55,075 prescriptions in 2018. From 2018 to June 2023, a total of 695,503 growth hormone injection prescriptions were issued.

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The increase in side effect cases was even more pronounced. According to data obtained by Shin from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, the number of reported cases rose from 320 in 2018 to 1,604 in 2022, a fivefold increase. From 2018 to September 2023, a total of 5,368 adverse event reports were filed. The reported adverse events mainly included ▲ systemic disorders and injection site bleeding or pain ▲ neurological disorders such as headaches and dizziness ▲ gastrointestinal disorders such as vomiting, upper abdominal pain, and nausea ▲ skin tissue disorders such as urticaria, itching, and rash. However, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety stated that a causal relationship between these side effects and growth hormone injections has not been confirmed.

Experts advise that growth hormone injections are therapeutic agents used for patients with growth problems and that administering them to children who are growing normally is inappropriate.

"Height-Increasing Injections," “Effectiveness Not Confirmed”

It is already known that the efficacy and effectiveness of "height-increasing drugs" and "height-increasing injections" have never undergone verification processes. This implies that height-increasing drugs are being misused among medical institutions, prompting calls for relevant authorities to step up management and supervision.

Data from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, the National Health Insurance Service, and the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service from last year show that the efficacy, effectiveness, safety, and validity of so-called "height-increasing drugs" and "height-increasing injections" prescribed in domestic medical institutions have never been confirmed. According to official data from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, there are a total of 24 growth hormone biopharmaceuticals prescribed in domestic medical institutions, none of which have undergone clinical trials targeting the general population. The Ministry also officially responded that none of these 24 biopharmaceuticals have been confirmed to be effective for the general population (including children and adolescents).

However, these drugs are widely prescribed to students at domestic university hospitals, general hospitals, and growth clinics. From 2021 to last September, approximately 10.66 million units of "height-increasing drugs" were supplied to 5,761 medical institutions nationwide. Although prices vary by drug, the minimum unit price delivered to medical institutions was found to range from 12,521 KRW to as high as 1.35 million KRW.