The Korea Fair Trade Commission said on the 11th it will start sanction procedures against seven medical companies that colluded in bids for specimen testing services ordered by national and public hospitals. Specimen testing refers to measuring specific substances in specimens such as blood and urine to determine whether a person is infected with a disease. Cancer tissue testing is a representative example.
That day, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said it sent an examination report applying allegations of violating Article 40, Paragraph 1, Items 3 and 8 of the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act, which bans bid and volume collusion, to GC Green Cross Medical Foundation, GC Cell, Samkwang Medical Laboratories, Samkwang Labtree, Seoul Clinical Laboratories, Seegene Medical Foundation, and EONE Laboratories. An examination report is equivalent to an indictment by prosecutors and sets out the alleged violations and the level of sanctions.
Some national and public hospitals outsource specimen tests they cannot perform in-house to specialized institutions selected through bidding. According to the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC), in this process the seven companies rotated the winning bidder from January 2012 to October 2024. Those not in turn participated as decoys. They also aligned delivery volumes, it was said. Contracts won through collusion totaled 294 billion won, and including the decoy bids, related sales are estimated at 600 billion won.
The Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) reached a tentative conclusion to impose a penalty surcharge of 10.5% to 15% of related sales. As a result, the penalty surcharge is expected to range from at least 63 billion won to at most 90 billion won. It is also considering referring some corporations and executives and employees to prosecutors. The Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) will make a final determination on whether the law was violated after deliberation and, if a violation is confirmed, will finalize the specifics of the penalty surcharge and any referrals.