"Pharmacists Absolutely Oppose Non-Face-to-Face Medical Care, Urge Expression of Opposition via KakaoTalk"

Non-face-to-face Medical Consultation Brokerage Platforms Also 'Counterattack'

Pharmacists are reportedly strongly opposing the allowance of non-face-to-face medical consultations.

During the nationwide survey on the quality and safety of non-face-to-face medical services led by the Ministry of Science and ICT from the 9th to the 20th, pharmacists collectively participated in the survey in a way that appeared to induce negative results. This is interpreted as because they are the occupational group most directly affected by medicine delivery if non-face-to-face consultations are permitted.

According to the Remote Medical Industry Council, a conversation requesting negative responses to the survey was circulated in a KakaoTalk chatroom recently gathered by pharmacists. The council disclosed the contents of the KakaoTalk chatroom, which includes 2,125 pharmacists. In it, one pharmacist suggested, "We need to concentrate on a couple of specific survey items to bring down the approval of medicine delivery to first place," recommending that negative items such as 'misuse' and 'strengthened monitoring' be selected as first and second choices. The pharmacist also encouraged adding comments in the 'other opinions' section such as, "Medicine delivery would shake the foundation of public health, so it must not be allowed," stating, "If medicine delivery is opened, pharmacy delivery, endless price comparisons, and service competition are inevitable."

The Remote Medical Industry Council explained, "(The pharmacist who induced negative responses) is known to be an executive of the Korean Pharmaceutical Association," adding, "Following this message, the number of survey participants rapidly increased, and negative responses to specific questions also rose significantly." They claimed, "This means that there was a manipulation of public opinion requesting negative responses in the nationwide survey on non-face-to-face medical consultations." In addition to the chatroom content, on the 9th, Yeon Je-deok, the newly elected president of the Gyeonggi-do Pharmaceutical Association, issued a press release stating, "Our pharmacist members have joined the digital public forum and actively participated in the survey to ensure that medicine delivery is definitely blocked in the non-face-to-face medical consultation system."

The Remote Medical Industry Council pointed out, "Since this is a procedure to publicly collect citizens' opinions, as realistic opinions as possible should be presented, but the pharmaceutical association's so-called 'coordinate marking' to encourage negative responses hinders healthy discussion," emphasizing, "If an additional offline opinion collection procedure for the public, industry, and medical community is established after the survey, more objective and reliable public opinion collection will be possible."

According to the Remote Medical Industry Council, a conversation requesting negative responses to a survey was circulated recently in a KakaoTalk group chat consisting of pharmacists. Remote Medical Industry Council

On the other hand, DoctorNow, the leading domestic non-face-to-face medical consultation intermediary platform, recently encouraged participation in the government-led survey on improving non-face-to-face medical consultation policies through an app notice. DoctorNow mentioned current non-face-to-face medical consultation policies such as ▲prohibition of medicine delivery ▲temporary 24-hour non-face-to-face consultations ▲restrictions on non-face-to-face prescriptions for certain medicines (obesity treatments, psychotropic drugs), and provided guidance on how to participate in policy improvement.

Meanwhile, the nationwide survey items included usage status as well as ▲satisfaction ▲appropriateness of prescriptions ▲trustworthiness of personal information protection ▲responsibility in case of medical accidents during non-face-to-face consultations ▲improvement points.

Despite pharmacists' opposition, positive evaluations of non-face-to-face medical consultations remain high. As of 11 a.m. on the 20th, among 2,867 people who experienced non-face-to-face consultations, 1,900 (66.28%) responded that they were satisfied with the experience, and 1,836 (64.04%) evaluated the non-face-to-face diagnosis as accurate. Among 2,793 people who experienced non-face-to-face consultations, 1,792 (64.16%) assessed that the pilot project for non-face-to-face consultations improved public access to medical environments.