Strengthed regulations on human drug use in vet clinics

Legislation passes Bill Review Subcommittee review

Pharmacists are obligated to record the veterinary clinic’s name, contact information, drug name, quantity, date of sale, etc.

Bill also contains provisions for linking the drug management center computer network and veterinarian prescription system

Large difference between pharmacist and veterinarian positions... need to see whether the legislation can pass the Legislation and Judiciary Committee

A bill that requires frontline pharmacies to record detailed distribution details on human specialty drugs sold to veterinary hospitals has passed the Bill Review Subcommittee review.

 

Although there was a lot of disagreement over the bill between the professions subject to the regulation - the pharmacists and the veterinarians - the Health and Welfare Committee’s Bill Review Subcommittee members agreed on the need to address the issue of misuse of human specialty drugs in veterinary hospitals.

 

On the 19th, the 1st Bill Review Subcommittee of the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee reviewed and voted, and passed the bill to amend the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, introduced by Representative Young-Seok Seo of the Democratic Party of Korea.

 

The core of Seo's bill is to impose reporting obligations on pharmacists when they sell specialty drugs for human use to veterinarians at veterinary hospitals.

 

The bill establishes a distribution management system that requires pharmacists to report their sales to the Korea Pharmaceutical Information Center every time they sell specialty drugs to veterinarians to prevent misuse and abuse of human drugs through veterinary hospitals.

 

In addition, when pharmacists sell specialized drugs to veterinarians, they are required to submit the name of the veterinary hospital, contact information, drug name, quantity, and date of sale to the Korea Pharmaceutical Information Center in accordance with the Ministry of Welfare decree.

 

If a pharmacist fails to submit the sales details or submits them falsely, he or she will be fined up to KRW 1 million.

 

In particular, the bill mandates the computer network of the Korea Pharmaceutical Information Center to be linked to the veterinary prescription management system operated under the Veterinarians Act to transparently manage the distribution channels of specialty drugs sold to veterinarians.

 

The Korean Pharmaceutical Association submitted a position in favor of the bill and the Korean Veterinary Medical Association submitted a position against the bill, but the Bill Review Subcommittee decided to pass the bill.

 

Although the bill passed the Bill Review Subcommittee, it remains to be seen whether it can pass the Legislation and Judiciary Committee as the two professions are at odds.

 

Earlier, Rep.

 

Seo explained the background of the bill, saying that the process of selling specialized drugs for human use to veterinary clinics is causing issues of misuse and abuse, while at the same time, 'drug delivery,' which is prohibited by the current law, is also being carried out covertly.