Court Rules "Access Restriction to Korean Medicine Doctor COVID-19 Management System Is Illegal"

A court ruling has determined that preventing Korean medicine doctors from accessing the system for reporting COVID-19 confirmed cases is illegal.

On the 23rd, the Administrative Court of Seoul, Administrative Division 5 (Presiding Judge Kim Sun-yeol) ruled in favor of 13 Korean medicine doctors in a lawsuit against the Director of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), seeking cancellation of the refusal to grant permission to use the 'COVID-19 Information Management System.'

The court stated, "Diagnosing COVID-19 through professional rapid antigen tests falls under the licensed Korean medicine medical practices for Korean medicine doctors," and added, "Since the restriction extends not only to reporting confirmed cases but also to medical acts such as testing and diagnosis, the disposition in this case is illegal and must be canceled."

The KDCA argued that diagnosing COVID-19 through professional rapid antigen tests constitutes unlicensed medical practice not included in the Korean medicine medical practices that Korean medicine doctors can perform. However, the court said, "Considering the relevant regulations, it is reasonable to view COVID-19 testing and diagnostic acts performed with auxiliary use of the diagnostic device in this case as part of Korean medicine medical practices."

The court further stated, "It is clear that the fundamental treatment for COVID-19 is approved from a Western medicine perspective and cannot be prescribed by Korean medicine doctors," and judged, "Since health authorities recognize symptomatic treatment by Korean medicine doctors as Korean medicine medical practice and as a method of COVID-19 treatment, it cannot be said that if they cannot treat, they also cannot perform testing and diagnosis."

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