Since the Supreme Court ruled in favor of allowing the use of ultrasound diagnostic devices by oriental medicine practitioners, some companies, including GE Healthcare, have been selling their products to oriental medicine doctors.
However, Samsung Medison and other companies are showing a contradictory position that there is no official selling of ultrasound diagnostics to oriental medicine practitioners.
Recently, some oriental medicine practitioners posted videos and articles on YouTube and other social media, saying they purchased GE Healthcare's LOGIQ P9, Voluson S6, Versana active, and S6 volusion and are utilizing them for diagnosis. These videos showed ultrasound diagnostics for musculoskeletal, internal, and diet diseases.
As the market for ultrasound diagnostic devices is expanding to oriental medicine clinics, related companies are also selling them.
According to medical equipment industry insiders, GE Healthcare Korea has set up a team that is exclusively responsible for selling these products to oriental medicine clinics. In 2009, GE Healthcare started selling ultrasound diagnostic devices to acupuncturists but had to suspend sales due to backlash from physician organizations.
At that time, the Korean Medical Association (KMA) and other groups sent a letter of protest to GE Healthcare and expressed their intention to boycott the product. Later, the Korea Fair Trade Commission imposed a fine on KMA for violating the Fair Trade Act. Still, GE Healthcare has stopped selling ultrasound diagnostic devices to oriental medicine clinics.
After the recent Supreme Court ruling, however, the company has concluded that there is no legal problem and resumed its sale to oriental medicine doctors.
"We do not have an exclusive sales team for oriental medicine practitioners. Nor do we have plans to create one," a GE Healthcare Korea official said in a telephone interview with Korea Biomedical Review.
However, acknowledging the company's sales of ultrasound diagnostic devices to oriental doctors, the official added, "Isn’t the purpose (of oriental medicine doctors using ultrasound diagnostic devices) the same to serve patients better? We don't differentiate between western and oriental doctors."
Siemens Healthineers Korea also sees no problem with the sale of ultrasound diagnostic devices to oriental medicine doctors.
"While we see this as a new market, we have no ‘separate plans to sell to oriental medicine doctors,” a company official said. "As with our existing customers, we will treat them as our customers if oriental medicine doctors inquire or show interest."
Philips Korea is in a similar situation. There are many reviews on social networking services (SNS) by oriental medicine practitioners who have purchased its products.
On the other hand, some companies still draw the line in selling ultrasound.
"We have no intention of selling ultrasound diagnostic devices (to oriental medicine doctors) ," a Canon Medical official said. "(Ultrasound diagnostic devices) require training and proficiency and specialized personnel. We have to be cautious."
A Samsung Medison official also said, "We have no official plans to sell ultrasound diagnostic devices to oriental medicine practitioners. Some used products might have been distributed to oriental medicine clinics through some stores, but we have no official plans to set up a team or sell to oriental medicine practitioners."
Some in the medical community also expressed discomfort and concern about the use of ultrasound diagnostic devices by oriental medicine practitioners.
"Although there is no harm in the (ultrasound diagnostic) device itself, there may be problems, such as misdiagnosis and failure to detect endometrial cancer. There are also other problems, including overdiagnosis and unnecessary medical expenses," a doctor said. "Even if oriental medicine clinics do not receive money for imaging tests, they can include them in herbal medicine. It's ridiculous for imaging devices to be used as a way to make money for herbal medicine."