Original scientific paper
Demokratizacija i politički utjecaj liječnika: razdvajanje, propisivanja i izdavanja lijekova u Koreji
Sang Hun Lim
; Doctoral student, Department of Social Policy and Social Work, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
Abstract
This paper is about the relationship between democratisation and doctors’ political influence in health policy, in the case of the separation of prescribing and dispensing (SPD) in Korea. Due to their professional as well as institutional features, doctors have been regarded as one of the most powerful pressure groups. Democratisation may have two mutually conflicting influences: (1) doctors’ veto capacity may increase with their strengthened voice vis-ŕ-vis the government; and (2) it may decrease, as not only
doctors’ central association but also other social groups, such as medical consumers and sub-groups of doctors, acquire stronger voices. This paper analyses the case of the SPD in Korea, which prevented doctors from dispensing drugs. It compares the SPD process in the authoritarian period (1982-1985), the transition period (1987-1991) and the democratic period (1998-2000). It concludes that doctors’ political influence increases in the transition period, and then decreases as democratisation matures.
Keywords
democratisation; doctors’ political influence; separation of prescribing and dispensing (SPD)
Hrčak ID:
35421
URI
Publication date:
31.3.2009.
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