Physicians, dentists in feud over Botox practices in South Korea

South Korean medical doctors, including cosmetic surgeons, are once again in a public feud with the nation’s dentists over an ongoing trial involving a dental surgeon who has been accused of committing illegal practices by performing Botox for purely cosmetic purposes.

The accused was charged after performing Botox treatments for two of his patients at his dental clinic back in 2011. The patients wanted the procedure for wrinkles in their foreheads, not for dental conditions, according to the press release released by the Supreme Court of Korea.

The dentist had been found guilty of practicing illegal medical procedures in his first and second trials and was sentenced to a suspended fine of 1 million won ($854). In response to heated public debate on the case, the dentist’s upcoming hearing at the nation’s highest court, scheduled for Thursday, will be open to public and broadcast live.

The Korean Medical Association, which represents 100,000 mainstream physicians, endorsed the previous rulings -- saying the government is “exposing its patients to danger” should it allow dentists to give Botox procedures as they are not properly trained in aesthetic medicine.

Meanwhile, the Korean Dental Association, a representative body of Korea’s dentists, has been claiming that dentists are more than qualified to practice Botox procedures for the face. They have been arguing that dentists are experts in conditions related to structures and tissues in the jaw and facial area, on top of oral cavities.

“We’ve decided to make this hearing a public one as there has been a lot of debate among medical professionals as well as patients about the case,” the Supreme Court said in a statement. “There is an ambiguity with the current Medical Service Act and its definition of duties of medical doctors and dentists.”

Currently, article 2 of the nation’s Medical Service Act states that the duties of a dentist are “to engage in dental treatment and guidance for oral health,” while the duties of a medical doctor are to “engage in medical treatment and health guidance.” The Supreme Court said that these definitions are rather short and don’t provide specific and detailed explanation of what their responsibilities are according to their expertise.

The KMA has been claiming that all dentists should be banned from practicing Botox procedures for cosmetic purposes. “Those who are not properly trained are also more likely to be incapable of giving the proper treatments should there be an emergency situation caused by side effects of Botox injections,” the organization said in a statement released prior to Thursday’s hearing.

However, representative bodies of traditional Korean medicine doctors, pharmacists and nurses together released a statement in response to the KMA’s claims against dentists, arguing that KMA is being unreasonable and unnecessarily “territorial.” The KMA has been also in a feud with Korean traditional medical doctors, as they have been claiming that all traditional physicians should be banned from using modern-day medical equipment such as ultrasounds.

“We believe that cosmetic procedures have been already performed by dental and maxillofacial surgeons in Korea for many years,” the medical professionals said in a statement. “Knowing this, all we can say is the KMA is being disrespectful toward other health care professionals.”

By Claire Lee (dyc@heraldcorp.com)