The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has decided to notify the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety of its detection and disposal of illegal rebates in the pharmaceutical and medical device sectors within 30 days.The FTC said it would revise “guidelines on notifying ill
Starting from November, Korea will fully resume its visa-waiver program, after suspending it in early 2020 to prevent Covid-19 from spreading.The visa-free system allows entry into the country for tourism, visiting relatives, field trips, inspections, and short-term business without a visa.Korea had
The number of foreign patients who come to Korea for medical tourism is increasing due to the easing of Covid-19 quarantine measures.Rep. Suh Young-seok of the opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) said Wednesday that the number of foreign patients totaled 181,481 last year, up 34.8 percent fro
Korea's daily Covid-19 cases continued to hover around 30,000 for the second consecutive day.On Wednesday, Korea added 29,503 new Covid-19 infections, including 72 cases from abroad, bringing the total caseload to 25,194,177, according to the KDCA.Wednesday's figure is down 3,745 from a day ago and
Korea's new covid-19 cases on Tuesday nearly tripled from the previous day, amid growing concerns from health officials about the possibility of a resurgence of the virus during the winter season.On Tuesday, Korea added 33,248 new Covid-19 infections, including 87 cases from abroad, bringing the tot
A government report showed that eight out of 10 deaths in Korea last year were due to chronic diseases.The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) on Monday published the “2022 Chronic Disease Status and Issues,” which annually provides the basis for establishing the relevant health indus
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) said it has granted emergency use approval (EUA) for Pfizer's Covid-19 bivalent vaccine, an improved vaccine developed to respond to the Omicron variants.The Emergency Use Approval System allows the urgent manufacture, import, and supply of medical product
A lawmaker has called for a check to reduce the indiscriminate hormone treatments of precious puberty, pointing out that health insurance claims have sharply increased since the Covid-19 outbreak.Rep. Shin Hyun-young of the opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) said so on Sunday based on her an
The Korea Electronic Cigarette Association (KECA), a group of about 4,000 e-cigarettes vendors, said it has filed a lawsuit against the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), demanding the government correct misguided information about e-cig
The government is checking quarantine measures for the 2023 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), as the exam is just a month away. The CSAT this year will be the third conducted during the Covid-19 era.A total of 508,030 students will take the CSAT on Nov. 17 nationwide, the Ministry of Education
The government said 780,000 doses of Pfizer's BA.1-based bivalent vaccine, an improved vaccine developed to respond to the Omicron variant, will arrive in Korea on Thursday.This is the first shipment of Pfizer's bivalent batch to arrive in Korea and comes after the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety g
The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said AstraZeneca and Alvogen would face a $1.85 million fine together for reaching an unfair deal to prevent the launch of a generic version of AstraZeneca’s Zoladex (ingredient: Gosereline), a drug for breast and prostate cancer, in Korea.The FTC imposed a correction
Foreign residents in Korea paid nearly 1.58 trillion won ($1.11 billion) in health insurance premiums, and the number of foreigners caught illegally receiving insurance money decreased significantly last year.Based on the analysis of data at the National Health Insurance Service, Rep. Koh Young-in o
As the spread of Covid-19 has subsided, the government has removed the mandatory Covid-19 testing requirement for patients visiting emergency rooms (ER).Until now, the government has required people to undergo a Covid-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test or a rapid antigen test before visiting th
“Patents become more important for corporate sell-off or licensing. No matter how good your technology is, if you have a patent that can be invalidated, they annul your patents and use them for free instead of spending money to license them. Numerous companies in the market, such as Teva, invalidate
The excessive desire among Korean female teenagers and young adults to stay skinny and thin is raising health concerns, as many of them are turning toward bulimia nervosa, an eating disorder, as a solution to achieve their desired body weight.Bulimia nervosa is a serious eating disorder where patien
Korea Public Tissue Bank (KPTB), a public institution under the Ministry of Health and Welfare, which produces transplant materials by receiving donated human tissues, was caught red-handed for selling off donated tissue at a discount price, a lawmaker said.According to the special audit result repo
Korea reported 10 deaths from Covid-19 on Tuesday, raising the death toll to 28,708. The Tuesday figure was the lowest since July 12, when Korea reported seven Covid-19 deaths.The country also added 15,476 new Covid-19 infections, including 95 cases from abroad, bringing the total caseload to 24,995
As teenage drug addiction and suicide attempts rise steeply, medical narcotics prescribed by hospitals are used as their channel to drugs, a lawmaker pointed out.Rep. Suh Dong-yong of the opposition Democratic Party of Korea said so at the National Assembly Education Committee’s administrative inspe
A team of mathematicians predicted that the number of new confirmed Covid-19 cases per day will drop to fewer than 4,000 in two weeks as the pandemic resurgence has turned into a declining phase.A team at the National Institute for Mathematical Science (NIMS) concluded so, after considering the amou