현대 의료기기의 사용과 한의사의 면허 범위 - 서울행정법원 2016. 6. 23. 선고 2015구합68789에 대한 평가 -

Abstract

A licensed Korean medicine doctor ran a Korean medicine clinic in which he operated an X-ray bone density scanner(model number GPA-1000) in order to take growth plate images. In this regard the prosecutor's office suspended indictment for reasons of violating the Medical Act. The minister of health and welfare suspended the license of the Korean medicine doctor for 1.5 months. The Seoul Administrative Court dismissed the plaintiff's motion for vacating the suspension of license, although the plaintiff argued that the treatment he provided was within the scope of his Korean medicine license. In Korea there is a strict differentiation of medical treatment provided in the realm of Korean medicine and Western medicine. Therefore Korean medicine doctors cannot practice Western medicine and Western medicine doctors are barred from practicing Korean medicine. However with the latest development of medical appliances it is becoming increasingly difficult to draw a clear line between the two types of medicine. Problems arise when Korean medicine doctors use medical imaging devices. Of particular significance is when Korean medicine doctors use ultrasound devices in diagnosing and treating patients. Although the Constitutional Court has twice delivered its Opinion on the matter by saying that such medical acts cannot be seen as being based on Korean medicine the debate continues to exist in this regard. The Seoul Administrative Court's decision is in the vein of the Constitutional Court's Opinions. Unless the current dual license system is revised and a new abstract standard for setting the scope of license is introduced the court has no choice but to deliver decisions like the one studied here. As witnessed from the Supreme Court en banc decision that recognized a dentist's botox injection into an area around the eyes and eyebrows of a patient, the circumstances surrounding the development of modern medical technology, the changing perception of medical treatment, and other factors are blurring the line between traditional western medicine, dental treatment, Korean medicine. By maintaining the dual system between Western and Korean medicine and leaving the scope of license of doctors to the realm of interpretation, lawmakers are in a sense abdicating their duty. On the other hand, it is not easy to define the precise boundaries between traditional western medicine, dental treatment, Korean medicine. This is why rather than attempting to provide for a definition, a fundamental solution to the problem may be the unification of the license system of doctors.