"Urgent SOS, Medical Affairs Staff Review Needed" Doctor Errand... Pharmaceutical Salesman 'Reveals'

Claims Arise That Pharmaceutical Sales Staff Were Mobilized for Doctors' Assembly
"At This Level, It's Like Modern-Day Slavery," Netizens Criticize

Amid allegations that doctors forcibly mobilized pharmaceutical company employees to attend protests against increasing medical school admissions, a sales representative from a pharmaceutical company has claimed that they routinely took on various errands to appease doctors, sparking controversy.

On the 5th, a person identified as a pharmaceutical sales representative, A, posted a message titled "Let me tell you about the daily life of a pharmaceutical sales rep" on an online community. In the post, he shared a KakaoTalk conversation he said took place between himself and a doctor around 2018?2019. The photos A shared show the doctor asking him to handle various miscellaneous tasks such as "Replace the laptop HDD with an SSD," "Install Hangul (a word processing program)," and "Make two A4-sized frames."

On the 5th, Mr. A, who introduced himself as a pharmaceutical sales representative, posted an article titled "Let me tell you about the daily life of a pharmaceutical salesman" on an online community.
[Photo by Online Community]

Furthermore, the doctor requested an "urgent SOS," asking A to "check resumes for hiring staff in the administration department," a request A did not refuse. In the post, A explained, "This director is actually quite kind." He added, "There are even worse messages from other directors, but I can't share them due to privacy concerns. Lately, the tasks have become dirtier, and I don't know how much longer I can endure this."

He continued, "Today's schedule: 8 a.m. go to the director's house to take the child to daycare, 10:30 a.m. go to the clinic to unclog the toilet, 12:30 p.m. deliver sushi for the director's lunch (19,000 KRW), 3 p.m. pick up the director's son from daycare and take him home, 7 p.m. pay for the hospital staff's dinner."

"Abuse of power is a long-standing and accepted practice" Continued Revelations

Other pharmaceutical sales representatives also shared their experiences in response to A's post. One sarcastically lamented, "If you're a sales rep, let's not complain about the basic stuff we have to do." Another said, "(The doctor) said they were planning a family trip to Hawaii in the summer and asked me to just check the schedule, and if I did that, the next month's order would immediately drop to zero."

Most netizens who read these posts reacted with surprise, saying things like, "I had heard about this vaguely, but I didn't realize it was this bad," "Isn't this modern-day slavery?" "Is there anyone above people?" and "It's almost like being a servant."

[Photo by Yonhap News]

Earlier, regarding allegations that pharmaceutical company employees were mobilized for doctors' protests, pharmaceutical companies stated, "Nothing has been specifically confirmed," but expressed concern that the controversy might escalate into issues involving rebates between doctors and the pharmaceutical industry, abuse of power, or boycotts. Ahead of the "National Doctors' General Rally" on the 3rd, several posts appeared on online communities such as Blind, an anonymous workplace app, claiming that some doctors forced pharmaceutical sales representatives to attend the protests. The Korean Medical Association's Emergency Committee filed a defamation lawsuit against the post authors.

The National Police Agency immediately began verifying the facts and stated that if illegal activities are confirmed, they will launch an investigation and take strict action. The Presidential Office also announced a "zero-tolerance response" policy regarding related allegations on the day of the rally.

As the controversy grew, past issues involving illegal rebates and abuse of power between doctors and pharmaceutical companies resurfaced. In fact, a pharmaceutical sales employee, B, was caught attending reserve forces training three times on behalf of a doctor in Wonju, Gangwon Province, between 2017 and 2018, and paying for hotel accommodations. B was sentenced to six months in prison with a two-year probation for violating the Reserve Forces Act and the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, while the doctor was fined 40 million KRW.