Doctors block children’s night care business… Daebap “Penalty is appropriate”

The Supreme Court ruled that the Fair Trade Commission’s penalty surcharge was justified against the Pediatric Clinic, which gave disadvantages to pediatricians who participated in the government’s nighttime operation policy.

The first division of the Supreme Court (Chief Justice Park Jeong-hwa) announced on the 3rd that it had reversed the case and remanded the case to the Seoul High Court, breaking the original judgment that the plaintiff prevailed in the lawsuit for revocation of the correction order and penalty payment order issued by the Korean Medical Association against the Fair Trade Commission.

In September 2014, the Ministry of Health and Welfare introduced the ‘Dalbit Daycare Center Hospital’, which extended its operating hours until 12 pm on weekdays and 6 pm on holidays so that children can receive treatment at night.

The Doctors Association opposed the policy and demanded an application for cancellation of the designation by visiting participating hospitals on the grounds that hospitals that did not participate in the project would suffer if patients flock to the Dalbit Daycare Center.

The pressure continued, such as creating a self-discipline rule that could accuse hospitals participating in Dalbit Daycare Center or request administrative action, and restrict the use of the Doctor’s Association website.

Accordingly, in May 2017, the Fair Trade Commission issued a fine of 500 million won and a correction order, saying that the medical association had unreasonably restricted the business activities of its members. The doctor’s association filed a cancellation suit, claiming that medical services were not affected.

The Seoul High Court, the trial court, sided with the doctors. The court ruled that the action of the doctors was not to affect prices by limiting competition between children and adolescents and hospitals, but to oppose government policy.

The Supreme Court reversed the case and remanded the case to the effect that the Doctors’ Association was defeated. The Supreme Court said, “Although the act of restriction in this case is part of the activity aimed at opposing the government’s health and medical policy, the main purpose or intention of the restriction is rather that the plaintiffs, who are business organizations, compete with each other in light of the contents and methods of the restriction. It is reasonable to view this as to limit the expansion of competition in the supply of night and holiday medical services by directly obstructing the related business operators of the plaintiff from participating in the Dalbit Daycare Hospital project,” the court ruled.

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