Suspension/Revocation of a Physician's License

A license suspension means that for a set period the license is suspended, during which all medical practice, including treatment, prescription, and surgery, is prohibited.

A license revocation is a disposition that completely strips a medical practitioner of their qualification, and recovery is very difficult because resuming medical practice requires going through a re-licensing procedure.

Where a medical practitioner commits certain violations of statutes, the Minister of Health and Welfare may suspend the practitioner's license for up to one year under Article 66 of the Medical Service Act.

Whether a suspension is imposed and for how long is determined by comprehensively considering the seriousness, the repetition, and the intentionality of the violation.

① Conduct that seriously damages the dignity of a medical practitioner

→ This applies where social trust in a medical practitioner is seriously undermined, for example, through ethical deviation or immoral medical practice.

② Being employed by a person not qualified to establish a medical institution and performing medical practice

→ This also includes working at an institution established by an unqualified person, or an employment relationship in which one's name is lent to an unlawfully established institution.

③ False preparation of a medical certificate, postmortem inspection report, or other certificate

→ This applies where a medical certificate, postmortem inspection report, certificate, or similar document is prepared and issued contrary to the facts, or where a medical record is intentionally prepared, modified, or supplemented falsely.

④ Unlicensed medical practice

→ This applies where a person who is not a medical technician is directed to perform the duties of a medical technician, or where a medical technician is directed to perform an act exceeding the scope of their duties.

⑤ False claims for medical fees through wrongful means

→ This refers to falsely claiming medical fees from the National Health Insurance Service or other bodies by forging, altering, or falsely preparing related documents.

⑥ Other violations of the Medical Service Act

→ Even where a case does not fall under the grounds above, it may be subject to disposition where it violates the Medical Service Act and related statutes in other ways, such as violating the prohibition on reusing single-use medical devices, the prohibition on prenatal sex identification, or the prohibition on obtaining wrongful economic benefits from pharmaceutical suppliers.

License revocation is a serious disposition that strips a medical professional of their qualification itself, and it applies in cases involving the following serious statutory violations or grounds of disqualification.

However, this does not apply where the person became subject to items 4 through 6 above by committing the crime under Article 268 of the Criminal Act (occupational or gross negligence resulting in death or injury) during a medical procedure.

Even where a license has been revoked, the Minister of Health and Welfare may reissue the license if the grounds for revocation have been resolved or if clear evidence of reform is recognized.

To have a license reissued, the person must complete an education program of at least 40 hours at an institution designated by the Minister of Health and Welfare, and the main content of the education is as follows.

The education is provided by the Korea Human Resource Development Institute for Health and Welfare, statutory bodies such as medical and dental associations, institutions related to medical ethics, and similar organizations, and the cost must be borne by the participant.

A certificate of completion is issued to a person who completes the training, and the training institution must report the results to the Ministry of Health and Welfare within one month from the date the training ends.

If the training content is changed or the cost is adjusted, prior approval from the Minister of Health and Welfare must be obtained.

The point at which a license may be reissued varies depending on the specific grounds for revocation, their seriousness, and whether they were repeated.

A request for administrative adjudication must be filed with the administrative agency within 90 days from the date on which the party becomes aware that the administrative disposition was made, or within 180 days from the date the disposition was made.

If either of these two periods is exceeded, the request for adjudication may be unlawful and rejected, so the filing period must be strictly observed.

Accordingly, if a physician receives a disposition suspending or revoking the medical license, it is advisable to review without delay whether to file a request for administrative adjudication and to respond promptly.

If a request for an administrative appeal against a suspension or revocation of a physician's license does not produce a satisfactory result, the party may file an administrative litigation contesting the administrative appeal decision.

Administrative litigation is filed with the competent administrative court against the administrative agency that issued the disposition, and the legality of the disposition is contested through the court's review.

The action must also be filed within 90 days from the date on which the party became aware of the disposition, and it cannot be filed once one year has passed from the date the disposition was issued.

These two periods are not alternative, so if either one passes, the action can no longer be filed, and the periods must be strictly observed.

※ Administrative litigation may also be filed directly without first requesting an administrative appeal.