인터넷 의료광고를 활용한 환자 유인행위에 관한우리나라 판례 동향 및 법정책 방향에 관한 고찰

In Korea, Article 56 (1) of the 「Medical Act」 provides for medicaladvertising by means of the Internet, and due to the nature of advertising,medical advertising is used as a means of attracting patients. Article 27(3) of the 「Medical Act」 stipulates that no one should engage in patientinducement for profit, except for certain exceptions. Eventually, medicaladvertisements are closely related to patient inducement behaviors, andaccessibility and patient incentives of medical advertisements areincreasing through new media such as the Internet. This phenomenon hasbeen manifested in Japan, and Japan has also revised through the 「MedicalAct」 and the 「Guidelines for Medical Advertisements」 of Ministry ofHealth Labor and Welfare. In the past, the emphasis was placed on the non-profitability of medicalcare due to the nature of the medical practice and the public insurancesystem, and the excessive pursuit of profitability through medicaladvertisements was considered to be patient inducement. However, inrecent years, the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court have judged the issue of patient inducement using internet medical advertisements. This paper examines Korean legal regulations and the Supreme Court andthe Constitutional Court, focusing on cases of patient inducement throughinternet medical advertising.