The medical community and pharmacist groups spoke with one voice to block herbal medicines from receiving national health insurance coverage.

Seven medical groups, including the Korean Medical Association (KMA), the Korean Hospital Association (KHA), and the Korean Pharmaceutical Association (KPA), launched an emergency response committee against reimbursement for scientifically unverified herbal medicines.

The seven groups held a press conference on Friday to officially oppose the government’s plan to run a pilot program to approve herbal medicines reimbursement.

Seven medical groups, including the Korean Medical Association (KMA), the Korean Hospital Association (KHA), and the Korean Pharmaceutical Association (KPA), hold a press conference on Friday to officially oppose the government’s plan to run a pilot program to approve reimbursement for herbal medicines.

Lee Wang-jun, the executive chairman of the KHA's international affairs, said it was the first time in over a decade that the seven medical and pharmaceutical groups have formed solidarity for a single issue and made one voice. However, he also said he felt sorry that the seven associations had to create a response team while fighting against the Covid-19 crisis.

Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the government should spend more money on increasing capacity for intensive care units and opening specialized respiratory clinics, Lee said.

However, out of nowhere, the government inserted the reimbursement plan for herbal medicines in its push to enhance the overall health insurance coverage, he added.

“This made me wonder if the government had another dubious motive,” he said.
Lee said he heard that the government has failed to go through sufficient discussions with experts even though it launched a consultative body for the herbal medicine reimbursement plan.

He criticized the government for skipping sufficient discussions and failing to build evidence.

Lee warned that the seven groups would meet the health and welfare minister, officials at the Blue House, lawmakers at the National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee, and the head of the National Health Insurance Service to suspend the move by Oriental medicine practitioners.

To the general public, the medical community will explain that the issue was not about a dispute between Western and Oriental medical doctors, he added.

Lim Tae-hwan, chairman of the National Academy of Medicine of Korea, said the government should not spend money on herbal medicines that have failed to prove efficacy and safety.

Admitting that many Oriental medicine practitioners are making efforts to build scientific evidence for herbal medicines, Lim said the government should invest money in research for Oriental medicine rather than dividing the medical community with an absurd decision.

If such research yields no fruitful results, the government should ban particular Oriental medicine types and make an investment in other areas, he added.

The state finance should go to patients who find it difficult to get treatment, although treatments are undoubtedly available, rather than reimbursement for herbal medicines, Lim said.

The group of hospitals said the government should not approve reimbursement of herbal medicines unless the nation provides education for Western medicine and Oriental medicine under a single system.

Jeong Young-ho, president of the KHA, said Korea is the only country with a dual-licensed medical system, which has institutionalized an indigenous medicine without any scientific or medical base.

“Oriental medicine needs growth from a scientific and academic perspective to win international recognition and develop its characteristics,” he said.

For herbal medicines to get reimbursement, the government should first integrate the education of Western medicine and Oriental medicine, Jeong claimed.

“Based on these grounds, the two sides will have academic cooperation and open a mutually beneficial future. Making herbal medicines reimbursable should not occur unless the education is integrated,” he emphasized.

Chang Sung-goo, president of the Korean Academy of Medical Sciences, called the government’s plan a wrong policy.

“Reimbursement for herbal medicine is a waste of medical resources and taxpayers’ money,” Chang said.

As medical resources have limits, saving and using them efficiently is the current generation’s responsibility for descendants, he added.

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