Fair Trade Commission imposes a fine on Anguk Yakpum for 9 billion won rebate

The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) has issued a corrective order and imposed a provisional fine of 500 million won on Anguk Yakpum for providing rebates totaling approximately 9 billion won over about seven years.

According to the KFTC on the 6th, Anguk Yakpum improperly provided 6.2 billion won in cash and goods worth 2.7 billion won to doctors at hospitals, clinics, and public health centers from November 2011 to August 2018. This was to request that they continue and increase the use of the pharmaceuticals it manufactures and sells. It was found that Anguk Yakpum prepared tens of billions of won annually under the name of sales staff incentives, of which 6.2 billion won was used for rebates.

Sales staff also delivered goods worth 2.5 billion won, such as document shredders purchased from the employee welfare mall, to medical professionals. High-priced items such as vacuum cleaners and laptops worth a total of 230 million won were provided to 201 hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies, or accommodation expenses were supported.

The KFTC stated, "Providing improper rebates is an act of using unfair competition methods instead of fair competition means such as price and quality," and pointed out that "pharmaceutical companies focusing on easy improper methods rather than innovative efforts like new drug development and cost reduction affects drug price increases and ultimately undermines the soundness of the National Health Insurance."

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