Government started again the plan of corporate pharmacies that repeat adverse criticism over 10 years. The government plans to allow pharmacists to pool of capital and jointly launch a company to set up bigger pharmacies like form of corporate pharmacy. The current pharmaceutical affairs law bans this practice, but it was ruled unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court.

 

Plan of Corporate Pharmacies makes ¡®more¡¯ anxious for pharmacists. This measure is expected to spur investment in the medical sector. But pharmacists view this plan as a step toward privatizing medical services. They are against privatization on the grounds that it will cause a drop in the quality of medical services by driving out neighborhood pharmacies.

 

Pharmacy community is opposing strongly against when government announced to permit of corporate pharmacy through plan of investment activation. Korean Pharmacist Association and Civic Group insist that ¡°Corporate pharmacy by conglomerate should be abolished right now.¡±

 

On January 5th, Korean Pharmaceutical association held its first new year directors meeting as a resolution meeting that against the corporate pharmacy and emphasized again that introduction of corporate pharmacy will lead to the privatization of health care.

 

Korean Pharmaceutical Association has completed the formation of Emergency planning committee for blocking the corporate pharmacy and said that they will push ahead with struggle until the government discard existing proposal about corporate pharmacy

 

Recently, Korean Pharmaceutical Association made a video dealing with the problem of corporate pharmacy and distributed it to people. But many people don¡¯t know the real-meaning of corporate pharmacy, and Controversy on Corporate Pharmacy is still continuing now.