S. Korea's health insurance agency sues drug makers for selling unlicensed products

By Koh Byung-joon
SEOUL, June 18 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's state-run health insurance agency said
Thursday it is suing over 100 pharmaceutical companies suspected of selling
unlicensed products, demanding a combined 124.9 billion won (US$99.1 million) in
compensation.

The National Health Insurance Corp. said it is in the process of filing lawsuits
against a total of 104 pharmaceutical companies on suspicions they have sold
products whose licenses were canceled due to lack of data proving their
effectiveness.
The agency claims that the sale of the unlicensed products incurred financial
damages as it had to pay for drugs whose effectiveness had not yet been proved.
A total of 277 unlicensed drugs were sold by those companies, according to the
agency.
The agency said it has lodged lawsuits so far against 27 drug makers and is
preparing for similar compensation-seeking suits against the other firms. They
include leading drug makers such as Kwang Dong Pharmaceutical and Dong-A
Pharmaceutical, it added.
kokobj@yna.co.kr
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