SK Plasma, a company specializing in blood products, was fined in the first trial on charges of providing rebates to a university hospital resident.
According to legal sources on the 16th, the Seoul Northern District Court on the 15th fined the SK Plasma CEO and a sales representative 2 million won each for violating the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act. That is lower than the 3 million won fine prosecutors sought during the summary indictment process in June last year.
However, the court found them not guilty of bribery in breach of duty.
A physician who previously served as a resident at Inje University Sanggye Paik Hospital and was implicated in the same case was sentenced to a 700,000 won fine and a 600,000 won forfeiture.
The case began when prosecutors in June last year indicted nine people, including three mid-sized pharmaceutical companies such as SK Plasma, their executives and employees, and physicians, over allegations that residents at Sanggye Paik Hospital accepted rebates.
Prosecutors said that from February 2019 to July 2023 they provided employees of Inje Foundation, which operates Sanggye Paik Hospital, with economic benefits ranging from 496,570 won to as much as 2,568,053 won in connection with the supply of pharmaceuticals, and applied charges of violating the Medical Service Act.
Meanwhile, the other two drugmakers accepted summary indictments with fines ranging from 1 million won to 3 million won, but SK Plasma objected and requested a formal trial.