An amendment to the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, dubbed the "Dr. Now prevention bill," passed the National Assembly's plenary session, blocking telemedicine platforms from entering the pharmaceutical wholesale business. Although the industry pushed back, saying it restricts a lawfully operated business through ex post legislation, the government decided to pursue formalizing medication delivery to improve access to medicines for telemedicine patients.
On the 20th, the National Assembly held a plenary session and passed an amendment to the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act that includes telemedicine intermediaries as a disqualifying factor for a pharmaceutical wholesaler license. Of 178 lawmakers present, 95 voted in favor, 34 against, and 49 abstained, sending the bill through amid significant disagreement.
Once the amendment takes effect, telemedicine platform companies will be barred from directly establishing pharmaceutical wholesalers. It also requires pharmacists to check patients' medication histories through the Drug Utilization Review (DUR) system when dispensing narcotics.
During the legislative process, critics said excessive regulation would stifle innovation. Lee So-young of the Democratic Party of Korea said in a debate before the vote, "It discourages a dynamic startup ecosystem and venture investment to block a business that entered the market legally through ex post legislation." Lee also argued that the inconvenience of patients having to visit multiple pharmacies because it is difficult to check the location or price of prescription drugs may remain unresolved.
Dr. Now expressed regret over the bill's passage but welcomed the government's move to formalize medication delivery.
In a statement that day, Dr. Now said, "It is true that Dr. Now's attempt to solve problems in a way that did not previously exist has been frustrated," adding, "There must be no repeat of cases in which the positive functions of a lawful innovative business and its contributions to public convenience are not assessed objectively solely because there is no precedent and potential concerns have been raised."
Dr. Now said it launched the pharmaceutical distribution business to address the so-called "pharmacy ping-pong" problem of patients having to visit multiple pharmacies to obtain prescriptions after telemedicine. The company said it had operated the business with government approval and emphasized that it had taken supplementary measures, including voluntarily overhauling core functions of its application in response to concerns raised during operations.
However, the company said it "sincerely welcomes" the government's decision to discuss expanding medication delivery for telemedicine patients.
The Office for Government Policy Coordination, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, and the Ministry of Health and Welfare plan to begin discussions to formalize medication delivery to improve convenience for telemedicine patients receiving medicines. Dr. Now said this signifies that the medication access issue it has long raised is starting to be addressed as a social agenda rather than a specific corporations' business model.
Dr. Now said it will provide data for future institutionalization discussions based on its experience operating about 1.15 million medication deliveries linked to telemedicine, including patient demand, regional and time-based gaps in medication access, and safety management data.
With the bill's passage, Dr. Now's push into the pharmaceutical wholesale business will be halted, but its telemedicine intermediary service will continue as before.
Along with formalizing medication delivery, the government will also pursue follow-up regulations to enhance the safety of telemedicine. Measures under discussion include limiting prescriptions for first-time telemedicine patients to a maximum of seven days. The plan is to define telemedicine as a supplement to in-person care and include specific safeguards in subordinate regulations.