[Anchor]
Ahead of the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), psychiatric medications are being mistakenly known among some test-takers as "study-enhancing drugs." Cases are emerging where students suffered severe side effects after taking them. The issue stemmed from telemedicine services prescribing drugs based solely on the word of minors.
Reporter Han Sung-hee has the story.
[Reporter]
Ahead of the CSAT, Student A heard from a friend that "antidepressants help with concentration when studying."
[Mother of Student A: "When I asked, 'How did you find out about this?' she said, 'Kids who had depression medicine got it through telemedicine.' It seems there were students taking it."]
Student A received a prescription for antidepressants through a telemedicine app after falsely telling a doctor that she had depressive symptoms.
Soon, severe side effects followed.
[Mother of Student A: "One day, I got a call. She said she felt like she was going crazy at the cram school. One of the serious side effects of the medication was suicidal impulses. She told me she experienced that."]
The medication prescribed to A carried a pharmaceutical warning that it should be administered with caution to adolescents because it may increase suicidal impulses, but no such mention was made during the consultation.
[Lee Jeong-seok / Professor of Psychiatry, National Health Insurance Service Ilsan Hospital: "When people without symptoms take psychiatric medications, it often leads to numerous side effects."]
I decided to personally try obtaining a prescription for depression medication through a telemedicine app.
When I requested a consultation at an orthopedic clinic citing symptoms of "lethargy," a phone call came in immediately.
[Doctor at Orthopedic Clinic B: "Shall I issue a two-month prescription?" (Yes.)]
Without asking follow-up questions about symptoms or providing any explanation regarding side effects, the same medication was easily prescribed. The phone call lasted just 57 seconds.
Unlike psychotropic drugs, which are banned from being prescribed via telemedicine, antidepressants fall into a regulatory blind spot.
According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, starting December 24, when telemedicine is formally implemented, depression medications will strictly require video consultations, and in the case of minor patients, doctors will be required to confirm parental consent for the prescription.
However, criticisms persist that this remains insufficient.
[Kim Hyo-won / Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Asan Medical Center: "It shouldn't be just simple consent; information about the child's condition and treatment must also be obtained from guardians, not just from the child."]
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety emphasized that there is no such thing as a "study drug," urging caution regarding prescriptions for ADHD treatments and cardiovascular medications as well.
(Video by Kim Se-kyeong | Video Editing by Kim Yoon-sung)
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