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South Korea’s Ministry of Health and Welfare said Oct. 22 that it will conduct on-site inspections of medical facilities suspected of illegally dispensing and selling self-injected weight-loss drugs, including Wegovy and Mounjaro.
The inspections, carried out with local governments, follow a sharp increase in cases in which clinics received large quantities of the drugs and provided them to patients without administering the injections. Officials said the investigation is intended to stop unlawful in-house dispensing and sales.
High-volume clinics face scrutiny
Inspectors will focus on medical institutions with some of the country’s highest supply volumes. They will examine whether staff actually administered the drugs, how clinics dispensed or sold them and whether they complied with South Korea’s system separating medical prescribing from pharmacy dispensing.
Under that system, prescription drugs generally must be prescribed by a doctor and dispensed by a pharmacist at an outside pharmacy. Clinics may administer an initial dose of a self-injected drug while teaching a patient how to use it, but they generally may not simply hand over the medication for the patient to take home.
The ministry emphasized that delivery of the drugs to a medical institution does not by itself prove an illegal sale. In-house dispensing may be permitted in limited circumstances, including when a clinic administers an injection for training purposes.
Wegovy and Mounjaro supplies
From October 2024 through July 2026, about 1.92 million units of Wegovy were supplied to medical institutions, accounting for 62% of the total, while about 1.18 million units, or 38%, went to pharmacies. Primary care clinics received 88.2% of the institutional supply, and the 10 highest-volume clinics accounted for 10.22% of all supplies sent to clinics.
For Mounjaro, medical institutions received about 10.06 million units from August 2025 through July 2026, or 56% of the total. Pharmacies received about 7.95 million units, or 44%. Primary care clinics accounted for 92.4% of supplies delivered to medical institutions, with the 10 highest-volume clinics receiving 14.5% of the clinic total.
Possible criminal and professional penalties
South Korean law generally bars anyone other than a pharmacist or licensed practitioner of traditional Korean medicine from dispensing medication. Violations of the relevant dispensing rules can result in up to one year in prison or a fine of up to 10 million won. A doctor who violates prescription-issuance requirements can face a 15-day license suspension for a first offense and a 30-day suspension for another violation within two years.
The ministry sent guidance on compliance to local governments, the Korean Medical Association and the Korean Pharmaceutical Association in September 2025. It had not subsequently conducted a separate survey or enforcement action through its pharmaceutical policy division, but told lawmakers during a parliamentary audit that suspected violations had been referred for investigation.
Local governments have been instructed to report their inspection and oversight results. The ministry is also considering reviews of institutions that frequently prescribe the drugs to adolescents and said it will continue monitoring supply volumes after the latest inspections.
“Demand for self-injected obesity treatments is increasing, but that demand must not lead to illegal drug sales that circumvent the separation of prescribing and dispensing,” said Kwak Soon-heon, a senior health policy official. He said the ministry would strengthen oversight to protect public health and prevent misuse.
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