Daeryun strengthens pharmaceutical rebate response team... Veteran medical and fair trade experts

Response to rebate regulations across the medical industry, from pharmaceuticals to medical devices

Last year, the National Tax Service conducted a tax investigation into 16 pharmaceutical companies that helped evade taxes by providing illegal rebates. Controversy arose as it was revealed that the companies under investigation were paying medical professionals' personal expenses or indirectly providing rebates through promotional sales agencies (CSOs).

In this way, ‘rebate’, contrary to its original purpose of returning excessive amounts paid to the buyer, has recently been abused as a bribe to promote sales.
Accordingly, the government introduced several measures to eradicate rebates. A representative example is the introduction of the ‘double punishment system’ in 2010, which punishes both those who provide illegal rebates and those who receive them.

However, when the rebate issue was not resolved, the government took out its sword again. The CSO reporting system has been implemented in earnest since October of last year, and starting this year, a system will be implemented to disclose ‘expenditure reports’ containing details of the status of economic benefits provided to medical personnel. As a result, interest in compliance (CP) within the industry, from rebate applications to investigation response, has increased more than ever.

◆ Medical pharmaceutical and corporate legal multi-disciplinary group linkage… Responding to complex pharmaceutical rebate cases

In response to such legal demands, Daeryun Law Firm (Limited) (CEOs Kuk-il Kim and Byeong-jun Ko) has begun strengthening its pharmaceutical rebate response team.

Daeryun plans to do its best to address rebate-related issues by linking multi-disciplinary groups, including medical pharmaceuticals and corporate legal affairs, within the corporation.

The pharmaceutical rebate response team, which requires high expertise, is staffed with experts familiar with each field, including pharmacists and fair trade.

Advisor Choi Myeong-soon, who worked for approximately 30 years as Deputy Director of the National Health Insurance Corporation and Director of the Gwangju Branch of the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service; Gye-jun Son, former secretary of the Fair Trade Commission and head of the corporate law group at the 36th Judicial Research and Training Institute; Seo-hyung Lee, head of the Pharmaceutical, Bio, and Healthcare Center, who worked as a senior researcher at the Law Research Institute of Seoul National University and a research professor at Ewha Womans University Life and Medical Law Research Institute; Yun-jung Choi, an attorney who holds a pharmacist's license and has specialized in medical cases; holds a pharmacist's license and In addition, attorney Lee Il-hyung, who has a long period of experience as an in-house attorney at the pharmaceutical company Celltrion, will lead the team.

◆ Collaboration with advisors from HIRA and lawyers specializing in fair trade law, and legal consulting to strengthen compliance

First, Advisor Choi Myeong-soon is a veteran in the field of health insurance policy who played an important role in establishing the national health insurance system, including review and due diligence of health insurance care benefits and policy establishment. In particular, while working at the Pharmaceutical Management Information Center, he established a national pharmaceutical statistical infrastructure and played an important role in the entire process from production to distribution and management. Advisor Choi plans to collaborate with professional lawyers to review legal risks across pharmaceutical rebates.

Group Head Gye-Jun Son, who has extensive practical experience in responding to rebates, was in charge of the field of fair trade, including collusion and unfair trade practices, while serving at the Fair Trade Commission. He has provided advice on CP compliance management in the pharmaceutical industry as well as rebates, utilizing his ability to actually carry out the process of responding to the Fair Trade Commission's investigations and deliberations.

Attorney Seohyung Lee, who serves as the head of the Pharmaceutical, Bio, and Healthcare Center, is qualified as a pharmacist and patent attorney, and has successfully provided advice and resolved lawsuits related to rebates. In particular, he is expected to play an important role within the team as he is well-versed in the pharmaceutical industry.

Attorney Yoonjeong Choi, who is active in the medical pharmaceutical group, has extensive knowledge of related laws and procedures, and is able to respond quickly to issues in the pharmaceutical industry.

Attorney Lee Il-hyung, a former in-house lawyer at Celltrion, has worked in-house (Celltrion) on interpretation of fair competition regulations, review of clinical research contracts, and in-house training. In particular, he has experience winning a patent lawsuit against a foreign pharmaceutical company, Company P, and is active in various lawsuits in the medical pharmaceutical field.

Kim Kook-il, CEO of Management, said, "During medical tax investigations, an intense investigation is conducted regarding the existence of rebates. For this reason, explanations must be made quickly, and there were many voices calling for expert help in preparing various materials." He added, "We will become a law firm that provides the best legal services, from responding to cases such as tax investigations and criminal procedures to providing corporate direction, such as legal consulting to strengthen pharmaceutical company and CSO compliance."

Meanwhile, Daeryun Medical Pharmaceutical Group plans to hold a seminar on March 7th under the theme of ‘Issues and Practices of Compliance in the Pharmaceutical Field’. Applications for seminar participation can be made through the Daeryun website starting on the 26th.
 

Reporter Park Jun-sik (parkjs@wowtv.co.kr)

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