Members of the Korean Medical Association protest in front of the office of Rep. Seo Young-seok of the ruling Democratic Party in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, on Oct. 23. (Yonhap)
Members of the Korean Medical Association protest in front of the office of Rep. Seo Young-seok of the ruling Democratic Party in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, on Oct. 23. (Yonhap)

Division is intensifying between doctors who practice Western medicine and practitioners of Korean traditional medicine over a bill that would allow the latter to use X-rays. Doctors claim the move is risky, while traditional medicine practitioners view such concerns as outdated.

According to local news reports Monday, the Korean Medical Association held a meeting Saturday and pledged to do its utmost to block several initiatives pushed by Korean traditional medicine doctors, including the use of X-rays.

Rep. Seo Young-seok of the ruling Democratic Party proposed a bill early this month to partially revise the Medical Service Act to permit traditional medicine practitioners to use X-rays.

Under current law, safety management personnel -- limited to doctors, dentists and radiological technicians -- must be designated to place radiation devices in medical institutions.

The revised bill, however, would allow the founder of a medical institution to serve as the safety manager. That means a traditional medicine practitioner who establishes a clinic could then take on that role and use X-rays.

In response, the Korean Medical Association said, “According to the Medical Service Act, Korean medicine doctors should be limited to practicing Korean medicine, and their use of X-rays clearly constitutes unlicensed medical practice.”

The controversy over allowing traditional medicine doctors to use medical devices has resurfaced repeatedly, but it was reignited early this year after a higher court in Suwon acquitted a practitioner accused of violating medical laws by using an X-ray-type bone densitometer.

The Association of Korean Medicine, which represents traditional medicine practitioners, commented, “Legally, there is no problem with a Korean traditional medicine doctor using X-ray equipment in a traditional medicine clinic, but they do not qualify as safety management personnel. It is contradictory.”


shinjh@heraldcorp.com