의료일원화 논의와 의료소비자의 보호에 관한 고찰 - 양·한방 의료행위의 구별과 판례의 태도를 중심으로 -

Abstract

South Korea adopts a dual medical system in which two systems, Western and Oriental medicine, coexist. If an Oriental doctor performs Western medical practice beyond the scope of his or her license, or a Western doctor performs Oriental medical practice, it becomes an unlicensed medical practice. However, the Supreme Court presented “new judgment criteria” through a recent en banc ruling, and in particular, reflecting the fact that as medical technology develops it is difficult to confirm whether the academic principles used in the medical technology are Western medicine or oriental medicine, or that they are based on scientific technology other than medicine, it seems to have taken a different direction from the previous judgment standard, which is based on what the “academic principle” is. Therefore, when interpreting the legal principles following the ruling of the above en banc, the distinction between western and oriental medical practices depending on the scope of the licenses of Western doctors and oriental doctors becomes increasingly unclear, leading to discussions that it is necessary to switch to a unified medical system. The system transformation toward medical unification also affects patients, who are medical consumers. From the medical consumer’s point of view, there is an aspect that through the dual medical system, it is possible to choose either Western or Oriental medical treatment in the direction that corresponds to one’s disease and physical condition. However, when Western and Oriental medical practices are used overlapping, fatal side effects may occur, and time and economic costs are increased. On the other hand, in the unified medical system, it is emphasized that the health of the people, potential medical consumers, can be improved in that the cost of patients is reduced, and the level of medical care is raised and the number of doctors is stably secured through integrated medicine of Western and Oriental medicine. Therefore, in this paper, I would like to present a future direction by examining what kind of practical benefits the discussion of medical unification has from the standpoint of patients, who are medical consumers.