[Apha Biz=(Chicago) Reporter Paul Lee] The Fair Trade Commission said Ahn-Gook Pharmaceutical has imposed a correction order and a fine of 500 million won for providing cash and goods to hospitals, clinics and public health centers to maintain and increase the prescription of drugs it manufactures and sells.

According to the Fair Trade Commission, Ahn-Gook Pharmaceutical provided unfair economic benefits such as cash (6.2 billion won) and goods (2.7 billion won) to medical workers at hospitals, clinics and public health centers to maintain and increase the prescription of medicines manufactured and sold between November 2011 and August 2018.

Ahn-Gook Pharmaceutical set aside billions of won in cash each year as an incentive for salespeople to promote its medicine, and paid it as a rebate to 67 lawmakers across the country through salespeople at local business units under its sales headquarters and 16 doctors at public health centers with 6.2 billion won in cash.

In addition, salespeople provided a total of 2.5 billion won worth of goods to a number of medical workers and others by delivering goods such as document taxes through Anguk Mall," a welfare mall for employees."

In addition, the company provided 201 hospitals, clinics and pharmacies with electronic devices such as Dyson vacuum cleaners and LG Electronics Gram laptops, and provided economic benefits worth 230 million won over 343 times.

The FTC pointed out that such unfair rebate payments were problematic in that they used unfair competition means to induce operators to prescribe their medicines and provide cash and goods in return for sales promotion, rather than using fair competition means such as price and quality.

It also said such actions will affect drug price hikes in that pharmaceutical companies focus on relatively easy and unfair means rather than innovation efforts such as developing new drugs and reducing costs, which undermines the soundness of the national health insurance.

The FTC said the provision of the Anguk Pharmaceutical rebate was made in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, adding that it will continue to monitor activities that hinder competition order in the pharmaceutical market.

 

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