Drug pricing a hot-button issue during free trade talks
The United States is believed to have conditionally accepted the South Korean government’s proposal in terms of medicine pricing. Disagreement over pharmaceutical pricing was what led the second round of talks for a proposed South Korea-U.S. free trade agreement to end early. A South Korean government official, who asked to remain anonymous, said on July 20 that U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Alexander Vershbow, in a meeting with South Korea’s Health and Welfare Minister Rhyu Si-min, said that if the South Korean government holds further talks with the U.S. on the issue, and agrees to delay the implementation of South Korea’s proposed measure, the U.S. may accept South Korea’s medicine pricing plan. At the meeting, Minister Rhyu reiterated the government’s previous position, saying that South Korea’s measure for medicine pricing "will proceed as planned because it is a domestic policy,” according to the government official.Kim Chang-yeop, a professor of Seoul National University, said, “There is little justification for the withdrawal of the [South Korean drug pricing measure] because it has been implemented in many advanced nations.” Kim said the issue of contention for the U.S. may have been to seek protection of patent rights for new drugs. The Ministry of Health and Welfare plans to enact a bill to legislate the government’s drug pricing measure around July 24 as planned. The measure included a so-called "positive system," which allows drugs approved by the ministry as better-priced and more effective to be covered by the national health insurance system. In addition, legal grounds to reduce the prices of generic drugs was believed to be included in the measure.
