‘Warehouse-Style Pharmacy’ and ‘Special Price’ Signs Banned; Standards Set for Pharmacy Names and Advertising

[Financial News] Signs reading ‘warehouse-style pharmacy’ or ‘lowest-price pharmacy’ will disappear.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced on the 6th that it is pursuing amendments to the Enforcement Rule of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act to establish specific standards for pharmacy names and labeling and advertising that could distort the function of pharmacies, mislead consumers, or encourage excessive consumption of medicines.
The amendment aims to flesh out the standards restricting pharmacy names and false advertising delegated by the amended Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, which takes effect on December 23.
The proposed amendment divides the prohibited practices into categories. Names such as ‘warehouse,’ ‘supermarket,’ and ‘factory’ that distort the function of pharmacies, and terms such as ‘discount,’ ‘special price,’ and ‘cheap’ that encourage excessive consumption of medicines, may not be used. It will also be prohibited to mislead consumers by using terms such as ‘maximum,’ ‘best,’ ‘first,’ and ‘biggest’ without objective grounds.
After completing subsequent procedures, including gathering opinions through a legislative notice and conducting a regulatory review, the Ministry plans to provide guidance to local governments and relevant agencies so that pharmacies can fully understand and comply with the new standards.
Kwak Sun-heon, the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Director General for Health and Medical Policy, said, “Pharmacy names and labeling and advertising are not merely a means of doing business; they are also a way of conveying information about pharmacies and medicines to consumers.” He added, “We will reasonably regulate expressions that could encourage the misuse and overuse of medicines and work to establish a proper culture of pharmacy names and labeling and advertising.”
 


[email protected] Jeong Myeong-jin, Medical Correspondent Reporter