Kyungrye Silyeon: "Yoon and Jeongongui's Secret Negotiations Are Not Acceptable... Canceling Staff Increase Is an Exercise of Power"

The Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ) stated on the 4th regarding the meeting between President Yoon Seok-yeol and Park Dan, Emergency Response Committee Chair of the Korean Intern Resident Association (KIRA), "While dialogue to resolve social conflicts is necessary, it should not become a process of secretly rolling back medical school enrollment increases."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

In a statement released that day, CCEJ said, "To alleviate patients' pain and inconvenience, the return of residents and the prompt normalization of medical services are necessary, but demands to completely cancel the enrollment increase plan or to decide on new measures with the medical community amount to a show of force that risks public lives."

CCEJ added, "Now, patients either cannot receive timely hospital treatment when sick or must fall ill according to hospital hours," and urged, "The government should consider temporarily expanding the designation of exceptions to the separation of prescribing and dispensing in preparation for prolonged resident absences, shortened medical hours, and increased clinic closures."

CCEJ also stated, "For chronic disease patients such as those with hypertension and diabetes, immediate permission for prescription refills should be granted. For other diseases, a temporary allowance of pharmacists' prescribing authority is necessary," adding, "Since regular pharmacies can check past dispensing records, referring to these could enhance safety and effectiveness."

CCEJ emphasized, "In this urgent crisis where doctors have abandoned patients, the government must prepare extraordinary measures to efficiently manage medical resources to minimize patient harm," and stated, "The scope of work for dentists and Korean medicine doctors, who have authority to supervise medical practices under the Medical Service Act, should be temporarily expanded, and similar medical practices unnecessarily monopolized by doctors should be fully opened to other professions."