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Over 40,000 doctors, dentists, Oriental medicine practitioners and nurses rallied in front of the government complex in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province on Wednesday afternoon against a revision to the medical law. They demanded that the government scrap the amendment bill and start over. Protesters who had been bused in from across the country rallied from 2 p.m. in the intermittent rain while speakers urged the administration to repeal the revision bill.
The rally was the largest of its kind since the 2000 protests against the separation of dispensaries from medical practice. Most participants from Seoul and Gyeonggi Province saw patients in the morning, but those from elsewhere boarded their buses early in the morning. "We informed the 10 patients booked for today by telephone three to four days in advance that the clinic will be closed today," said Pak Sang-su, 33, the head of a clinic in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province.
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Medical professionals perform a mock funeral to symbolize the death of public health in a protest against proposed changes to the medical law in front of the government complex in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province on Wednesday.
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Doctors are mostly unhappy about the fact that administering injections is not explicitly specified under their exclusive activities in the revision. The 2000 revision gave pharmacists the right to dispense medicine, while doctors retained the right to prescribe them and administer injections. They insist the new revision must explicitly recognize these exclusive rights. They oppose discounts on medical fees when intermediaries recommend patients to hospitals on grounds that it would boost the influence of brokers. The revision permits limited advertising by allowing clinics to publicize fees for services not covered by health insurance.
"The medical law revision bill is a disgrace, because it erases the specialization and autonomy of medical practice and commercializes public life and health," a statement issued by four medical organizations read. Chang Dong-ik, the head of the Korean Medical Association, said, "If the government does not withdraw the revision bill, weˇŻll wage an all-out struggle against the government mobilizing every means including the return of our licenses and closing hospitals.ˇ±
One foreign worker died because of the hospital closures on Wednesday, while many patients turned up at medical facilities in vain. A Thai worker in a textile factory in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, who choked during lunch, was rushed to a nearby clinic that was closed for the day. He was taken to another clinic 4-5 km away but was dead on arrival, colleagues said.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare estimates that 28,000-plus clinics or about 57 percent of the country's total of over 49,000 suspended practice on Wednesday. The ministry decided to take tough action against protestors including ordering personnel to return to duty. A prolonged standoff looms. Medical organizations, the KMA among them, on Wednesday filed a complaint with the Seoul Central Prosecutors Office against Health and Welfare Minister Rhyu Si-min that charges health authorities with failing to properly crack down on illegal medical practices.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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