On Thursday, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety reported catching 200 cases of illegal marketing, advertising, distributing, or sharing of methylphenidate, an ADHD treatment promoted as a study aid, exploiting the anxiety of students taking the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), or suneung, on Nov. 16. 

Between October 16 and 31, the ministry carried out an inspection focused on fraudulent online advertisements and the illicit sale of food and drugs that misled both suneung test-takers and their parents.

Consequently, the government identified 200 posts engaged in the illegal sale, advertisement, distribution, solicitation, sharing, or purchase of ADHD medication methylphenidate, categorized as a psychotropic drug within the medical narcotics class, marketed as a purported "study pill" or "focus pill."

Methylphenidate is a prescription medication that can only be obtained with a doctor's prescription from a pharmacy, and selling or advertising it, as well as buying it without a prescription, breaks the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act. Also, one’s prescription must not be sold on the secondary market. 

The ministry also discovered 182 instances of false advertising, where regular foods were misleadingly marketed as "concentration nutrients," "memory boosters," and "brain health enhancers," lacking official recognition as functional health supplements or medicines by the authorities.

“Prescription drugs such as methylphenidate should only be purchased from pharmacies and hospitals after a doctor's prescription. Consumers must not purchase drugs that are illegally distributed online,” the ministry said in a statement.

“If a non-patient takes a prescription drug, it can cause side effects due to drug misuse.”

According to recent studies, the most common side effects of methylphenidate include appetite loss, dry mouth, anxiety, nervousness, nausea, and insomnia.