한방의료행위의 법적 개념에 관한 연구

Abstract

Background and Aim : Lately the age of competition has come among the medical service area. At the same time disputes over the medical practice related to the medical person’s territory tend to increase. In part it is due to the increased medical persons but in part it is because the medical practice is not defined clearly in the Medical Service Act for the practice of each medical person. So the legal definition of medical practice will be discussed here. Materials and Method : The cases from the court have been confirmed the difference between the two medical persons regarding the actual events. Legal aspects of medical practice in Korean medicine and the related cases will be reviewed and analysed. Results : The form of medical practice consists of administrating Korean medicine treatment and providing guidance for health based on Korean medicine. For medical doctors the practice includes medical treatment and guidance for health. Circular definition in the Medical Service Act over the medical practice, medical person and medical instruments makes it difficult to understand the whole idea. Therefore, the court has a tendency to decide the medical practice of medical doctor of Korean medicine from the some reliable points which is: 1) it is based on the principle of traditional Korean Medicine, 2) it is practiced by the medical doctor of Korean Medicine, 3) it can do harm to the patient without proper involvement of the medical doctor of Korean Medicine. Now the Act on the promotion of Korean Medicine and Pharmaceuticals makes it include the concept of “scientifically applied and developed” medical practice of Korean Medicine. Conclusions : With the essential change in the Act on the promotion of Korean Medicine and Pharmaceuticals, it is expected that even slight change can be seen in the court cases. However, still the concept of medical practice in the Medical Service Act remains the same. Modernisation of Korean Medicine, enhancement of textbooks and clinical practice training and the effort to amend the law to clearly define the medical practice of Korean Medicine will contribute to the clinical and academic environment. Evidence based Korean Medicine and even the unification of east-west medicine could be considered for the situation.