Doctor Sentenced to 4 Years for 3,700 Illegal Propofol Injections, Pocketing 4.1 Billion Won

Illegal Administration to 105 Addicts and Manipulation of Medical Records
First and Second Trials: "Guilty of Illegal Administration, Not Sale"
Final Ruling by Supreme Court

A doctor in Gangnam who illegally administered narcotics under the pretense of cosmetic procedures more than 3,700 times and earned profits totaling over 4.1 billion won has received a final prison sentence of four years. However, the Supreme Court ruled that a doctor's act of directly injecting drugs into a patient cannot be punished as a "sale" of narcotics.

Supreme Court, Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News

According to the legal community on April 15, the Supreme Court (Presiding Justice Oh Kyung-mi) upheld the lower court’s ruling in the final appeal of a doctor in his 60s, identified as A, who was indicted on charges including violation of the Narcotics Control Act. The court confirmed a four-year prison sentence and an order to forfeit 4,140,510,000 won.

A, who operated a clinic in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, was accused of conspiring with staff members, such as a consultation manager and a nursing assistant, to illegally administer narcotics a total of 3,703 times to 105 propofol addicts between January 2021 and July 2024, pocketing more than 4.1 billion won in the process.

Investigations revealed that A charged 200,000 to 300,000 won per procedure while engaging in illegal operations. To evade crackdowns, he reported false records of drug administration under other people’s names, omitted entries in electronic medical records, and meticulously planned his crimes by mixing in other less-regulated drugs, among other tactics.

Both the first and second trial courts found A guilty of the main illegal administration charges, but acquitted him of the “sale” of psychotropic drugs as charged by prosecutors. The courts reasoned that the doctor's use of the drugs was part of the sedation process and could not be regarded as a sale involving the transfer of ownership of the drugs to the patients.

The Supreme Court also found the lower court’s decision to be correct and dismissed both the prosecution’s and A’s appeals. The bench stated, “Under the former Narcotics Control Act, ‘administration’ and ‘sale’ are defined separately,” and added that “even if a doctor injected narcotics into a patient for purposes unrelated to medical work, this cannot be punished as an act of sale.”

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