In March, Representative Nam In-soon announced a partial revision of the Medical Service Act. According to Medical Observer, a medical media outlet, “A revision to the Medical Service Act, which expands the media subject to Prior Deliberation on Medical Advertisements and strengthens punishment only for illegal medical advertisements, was approved at a plenary session of the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee." The legislation constantly creates conflicts between the medical sector, hospitals, and the advertising industry regarding beauty and appearance. Thus the Korean government should not regulate medical advertisements because regulating plastic surgery and beauty advertisements undermines patients’ and doctors' decision-making rights.

First, regulations on beauty and plastic surgery advertising restrict consumers' information. In fact, "Babitalk," a beauty medical information application, recently launched a new information service that allows customers to share consultation reviews by comparing cost estimates of procedures and surgeries. The development of technologies for new medical review platforms demonstrates the restraints for consumer information due to advertising constraints. With the government restricting medical advertisements for beauty and plastic surgery, consumers eventually ironically seek information from other platforms about the hospital rather than from the hospital itself. Also, consumers cannot enjoy an ethical and advanced medical culture. In fact, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW), writing reviews along with photos before and after the patient's treatment on a hospital blog or SNS account, not a website with a login function, constitutes a violation of the Medical Service Law. In addition, according to a deliberation committee for medical advertisements and the MOHW, the posting of photos of patients' surgical results is regarded as treatment experiences and cannot be shared, and advertisements containing all changes before and after cannot be placed side by side. Despite having the patient's consent, hospitals cannot use the patient's before and after photos in advertisements for direct use as advertisements. If regulations increase, consumers cannot experience an advanced medical culture amid information asymmetry because there is virtually no information to include in beauty advertisements. Finally, regulations on medical advertising violate the rights of doctors and hospitals. The decision-making rights for cosmetic and cosmetic advertising lie with the doctor and the hospital. Medical establishments are being deprived of the rights to advertise their services due to the restrictions, as the MOHW is able to demand revisions if the medical advertisement review standards and related laws are not met. In response, Nak-Won Seong, the chairman of the Association of Korean Medicine and deliberation committee for medical advertisements, said in July 2021, "It is not policy-wise and may be unconstitutional to say that excessive administrative power will be intervened in the autonomous deliberation system. Autonomy should be granted rather than administrative regulation.”

The deliberation committee for medical advertisements undermines the freedom of the press and publication. It is also questionable whether the Association of Korean Medicine actually serves as an administrative agency or carries out the regulation as a private autonomous organization. However, tightening regulations requires restrictions because it interferes with doctors’ and patients' rights to make decisions and deprives hospitals of autonomy.

Regulating medical advertisements is a bill that has been strengthened over the years, and it has also developed with both opinions of approval and opposition. After the announcement of some revisions to the Medical Service Law, both sides agreed and opposed the controversial medical advertisements related to plastic surgery and beauty. What do CAH readers think about government regulation?