Pharmaceutical Company Producing Medicine with Unauthorized Ingredients... Fined in First Trial

Allegations of Violating the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Gyumin] The court sentenced pharmaceutical company Chong Kun Dang and its executives to fines and suspended prison terms for manufacturing and selling medicines by adding unauthorized raw materials.

On the 22nd, Judge Jang Young-chae of the Criminal Division 2 at the Seoul Western District Court announced that on the 11th, Chong Kun Dang Co., Ltd. and Production Director A, who were indicted for violating the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, were each sentenced to a fine of 20 million won and six months in prison with a one-year suspension, respectively.

According to the prosecution, Production Director A of Chong Kun Dang is accused of adding unauthorized raw materials to manufacture and sell medicines around December 2018 at Chong Kun Dang’s manufacturing plant, citing reasons such as poor tablet compression. A is also accused of falsifying manufacturing records to indicate that these raw materials were not used during the process. Chong Kun Dang, the company to which A belongs, is also charged with the same offense. The medicines in question were sold for a total of 39.7 billion won during the same period.

The court stated, “The defendants committed a crime that could directly affect public health by manufacturing and selling medicines without authorization and producing medicines different from the approved contents, which is a serious offense. The crime was committed over a long period, and the scale of the medicines manufactured and sold in this manner is very large.”

However, the court explained the sentencing rationale, saying, “The defendants have fully confessed and shown remorse, and it appears that there are no safety or efficacy issues with the medicines that were manufactured and sold differently. In fact, the approval for the medicines has also been completed.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.