SK Plasma Partially Convicted in First Trial for Violating Pharmaceutical Affairs Act

Acquitted of Bribery Charges; Fine Reduced to 2 Million Won

SK Plasma has been fined in the first trial for providing meals and other benefits to medical staff at university hospitals during product presentations.

According to the court on April 16, the Seoul Northern District Court sentenced both the CEO and a sales representative of SK Plasma to a fine of 2 million won each for violating the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act the previous day. This is lower than the 3 million won fine initially requested by prosecutors when they filed a summary indictment in June last year. The court acquitted the defendants of the charge of bribery. Medical staff at Inje University Sanggye Paik Hospital were sentenced to a fine of 700,000 won and ordered to forfeit 600,000 won.

The court determined that the product presentation conducted by the company violated the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, as it went beyond the relevant regulations and guidelines.

Previously, in June last year, prosecutors indicted SK Plasma, two other mid-sized pharmaceutical companies, their employees, and doctors—a total of nine individuals—in connection with suspicions of rebates received by residents at Sanggye Paik Hospital. Prosecutors found that, from around February 26, 2019 to around July 27, 2023, employees of Inje Academy, which operates Sanggye Paik Hospital, received economic benefits ranging from 496,570 won to 2,568,053 won each from pharmaceutical suppliers, constituting a violation of the Medical Service Act.

Two of the pharmaceutical companies accepted the summary indictment and fines ranging from 1 million to 3 million won, but SK Plasma objected and requested a formal trial.

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