Korea's food and drug safety ministry warns against exam-day use of propranolol

The food and drug safety ministry said it has distributed a card news guide warning teenagers against taking propranolol, a prescription beta-blocker, to calm nerves before the national college entrance exam.

The ministry produced the material with the Korea Pharmaceutical Safety Management Institute ahead of the 2027 college scholastic ability test on Nov. 19, targeting students who might take the medicine purely to improve test performance even though they have no symptoms of trembling or anxiety.

Propranolol blocks beta receptors in the sympathetic nervous system and is used to treat cardiovascular conditions including arrhythmia, angina and high blood pressure. In Korea it is classified as a prescription-only medicine. The ministry warned that taking it can cause drowsiness, fatigue, dizziness, postural hypotension and slowed heart rate.

"There is no medicine that makes you do well on a test," the ministry said, adding that the drug must be used only under a doctor's prescription and with a pharmacist's dispensing and medication guidance.

The release follows an intensive inspection of ADHD treatments marketed for test preparation, begun on Oct. 16, and a notice issued on Oct. 20 on caffeine-containing foods for exam takers.

The ministry also said it had asked medical institutions and pharmacies, through pop-up alerts in the Drug Utilization Review system and through the Korean Medical Association and the Korean Pharmaceutical Association, to check patients' condition and the purpose of use during prescribing and medication consultations.

The card news is available on the ministry's website and on the institute's site.