| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
sojusucks
Joined: 31 May 2008
|
 Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 4:37 am Post subject: OTC drugs may be available at supermarkets from August |
 |
|
It's about time. Pharmacies have a monopoly and care little about the needs of customers/patients when it comes to setting store hours.
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2011/06/117_89000.html
| Quote: |
Customers will likely be able to buy dozens of digestive drinks, cold medicines and other non-prescription drugs at supermarkets and convenience stores as early as August.
Currently, all drugs including non-prescription medicines are only sold at pharmacies, but the government has in principle decided to re-categorize some relatively safe non-prescription medicines as �non-drug� so retail stores can sell them.
While the Ministry of Health and Welfare seeks to revise related laws to set legal grounds for the sale of medicines at supermarkets, a crucial meeting on the issue among doctors and pharmacists took place Wednesday.
|
|
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Swampfox10mm
Joined: 24 Mar 2011
|
| Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 4:38 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Wow. That will anger some people! Those pharmacies are a sort of racket if there ever was one. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
sojusucks
Joined: 31 May 2008
|
| Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 4:46 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Swampfox10mm wrote: |
| Wow. That will anger some people! Those pharmacies are a sort of racket if there ever was one. |
There's plenty of gravy to go around. Just imagine the value of the prescription drug market in a nation full of ajummas and adjoshis with insurance cards. That's why the industry is so profitable and you see a pharmacy on every block. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
tiger fancini
Joined: 21 Mar 2006
Location: Testicles for Eyes
|
| Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 5:05 am Post subject: |
|
|
| The big HomePlus near me (Jamsil) has an in-store pharmacy. I usually go there for my Sunday Tylenol as all the small pharmacies around me appear to be closed on Sundays. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
tatertot
Joined: 21 Oct 2008
|
| Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 6:27 am Post subject: |
|
|
| I never understood why you couldn't buy Tylenol or Ibuprofen at grocery stores. Was there a law stating that non-prescription drugs couldn't be sold outside of pharmacies? That seems silly. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
coralreefer_1
Joined: 19 Jan 2009
|
| Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 8:54 am Post subject: |
|
|
I wouldn't be so excited yet. I think the key word here is "may"
This was reported earlier in the year, then about two months or so ago it was reported that they had decided (based on the protests of the pharmacy owners) they it would not happen.
Now its back to being on again. Throwing in the next round of obligatory protests from the pharmacists, and it will be off again.
It probably will happen eventually, but based on how this has gone back and forth, I would be surprised if it is actually finalized and implemented by August. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
sadguy
Joined: 13 Feb 2011
|
| Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 3:27 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| tatertot wrote: |
| I never understood why you couldn't buy Tylenol or Ibuprofen at grocery stores. Was there a law stating that non-prescription drugs couldn't be sold outside of pharmacies? That seems silly. |
yeah it bothered me. i had a killer headache a few weeks ago and wanted some aspirin but the pharmacies were closed because it was korean memorial day. ugh. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Ramen
Joined: 15 Apr 2008
|
| Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 4:47 pm Post subject: |
|
|
i think koreans are afraid that people may overdose on tylenol or nyquill(sp?) to off themselves.  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
atwood
Joined: 26 Dec 2009
|
| Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 5:37 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Ramen wrote: |
| i think koreans are afraid that people may overdose on tylenol or nyquill(sp?) to off themselves. |
Considering the country's high rate of suicide, I'd say this is a legitimate fear. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
nathanrutledge
Joined: 01 May 2008
Location: Marakesh
|
| Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 5:59 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| sadguy wrote: |
| tatertot wrote: |
| I never understood why you couldn't buy Tylenol or Ibuprofen at grocery stores. Was there a law stating that non-prescription drugs couldn't be sold outside of pharmacies? That seems silly. |
yeah it bothered me. i had a killer headache a few weeks ago and wanted some aspirin but the pharmacies were closed because it was korean memorial day. ugh. |
Yeah, there IS a law against it, and the changes WON'T allow ibuprofen/acetaminophen to be sold at stores. They have leeway in somethings but any drug that affects the central nervous system cannot be sold outside of a pharmacy. They're talking about introducing a bill to change the law in the fall, but until then, you still have to go to the pharmacy for aspirin.
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2937643 |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
eamo
Joined: 08 Mar 2003
Location: Shepherd's Bush, 1964.
|
| Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 6:13 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I'd be happy to see this too......I'm getting a little tired of every little type of tradesman being protected by the government to the detriment of the consumer.....
We pay small fortunes for fruit and veg because the small-time Korean farmers are protected by extremely limited food imports.
Supermarkets can't even sell cheap fried chicken because your local Pelicana Chiken wants to keep on charging 16,000 per chicken.
The pharmacists have been enjoying a monopoly for years. Each one is cozily tied up in a symbiotic relationship with the over-prescribing doctor in the same building.....it's a big scam.
I don't necessarily want to see small businessmen go out of business. They have my sympathy. A big supermarket opened 200m from my Dad's butchers shop in the early 90's and put him out of business.....
But I do think the Korean retail market, especially for food, is abnormal, corrupt and not giving consumers what the want.
It's a hard call. Protect the livelihoods of the few.....or bring prices down for the many. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
kraggy
Joined: 06 Mar 2011
|
| Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 7:02 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Do you need a prescription for Xanax/Valium in Korea.
I'm having major sleeping problems. Or can you get sleeping pills over the counter? I know it's unlikely but I thought I'd ask. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Died By Bear
Joined: 13 Jul 2010
Location: On the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
nathanrutledge
Joined: 01 May 2008
Location: Marakesh
|
| Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 7:16 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| kraggy wrote: |
Do you need a prescription for Xanax/Valium in Korea.
I'm having major sleeping problems. Or can you get sleeping pills over the counter? I know it's unlikely but I thought I'd ask. |
You cannot buy ASPIRIN outside of a pharmacy.
What do you think? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
kraggy
Joined: 06 Mar 2011
|
| Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 7:18 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I did not know that. I haven't been to a pharmacy yet. I've only been here 6 weeks.
Why the hell bother responding if you're going to be a smart ass about it?
Have you no life? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
