Health ministry to inspect clinics selling obesity self-injection drugs on site

South Korea's health ministry said Thursday it will conduct on-site inspections of hospitals and clinics suspected of preparing and selling obesity-treatment self-injection drugs on their premises in violation of the country's separation of prescribing and dispensing rules.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare said the inspections will target medical institutions that rank highest in nationwide supply volumes of the drugs, and that they will be carried out jointly with local governments.

Self-injection drugs are prescription medicines designed for patients to administer themselves. Under the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, they must be dispensed by a pharmacist on a doctor's prescription. The law allows an exception only when a medical institution injects the drug itself, for purposes such as teaching a patient how to use it.

The ministry said it has repeatedly advised that clinics may prepare and sell the drugs only in those injection cases, but that direct sales without injection have risen sharply. Violations will be handled under relevant laws, including Article 23, Paragraph 4 of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, which provides for up to one year in prison or a fine of up to 10 million won ($7,544), and Article 18, Paragraph 1 of the Medical Service Act, which requires doctors to issue prescriptions, with a first violation drawing a 15-day suspension of qualifications and a second within two years a 30-day suspension.

Clinics account for 88.2 percent of Wegovy and 92.4 percent of Mounjaro supplied to medical institutions, while tertiary general hospitals take 2.0 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.

"Demand for obesity-treatment self-injection drugs is growing, but that demand must not lead to illegal drug sales that depart from the separation of prescribing and dispensing," Kwak Soon-heon, the ministry's director-general for health and medical policy, said in a statement. "We will strengthen oversight so that the principle, an important institutional safeguard for protecting public health and preventing drug misuse, is faithfully observed in the field."