CEO Kwon Jin Young reportedly ordered HOOK employees to get prescribed medicines for her for two years
HOOK CEO Kwon Jin Young is suspected of having ordered company employees to receive prescriptions on behalf of her using the corporate card.
According to HOOK Entertainment’s internal data confirmed by SBS Entertainment News, CEO Kwon Jin Young ordered employee Kim more than 30 times in two years (from June 2020 to June 2022) to receive prescriptions at a university hospital in Seoul and a rehabilitation hospital in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province for her.
Two people, including Kim, had to visit the hospital several times a month to receive prescriptions for CEO Kwon’s chronic disease from the medical staff. They also purchased medicine at the pharmacies with HOOK’s corporate card and delivered the medicines to CEO Kwon.
According to Medical Law, receiving prescriptions by proxy is possible when the patient is unconscious or when the patient cannot control their actions and behaviors. In addition, the scope of proxy prescription recipients is limited to the patient’s family members, welfare workers for the elderly, and correctional institution employees.
According to the Enforcement Decree of non-face-to-face treatment, which has been temporarily conducted since February 24, 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the scope of proxy prescription recipients expanded to acquaintances who help the patient with treatments. As a result, CEO Kwon reportedly designated a company employee as her treatment guardian to receive prescriptions for her.
According to the released internal data, the medicines CEO Kwon Jin Young received through her employee were classified as psychotropic medications, which are not available for prescriptions by proxy. The Ministry of Health and Welfare has restricted prescriptions by proxy for psychotropic medications since November 2nd, 2021 due to concerns over the medications being misused as narcotic drugs.
In the Kakaotalk group chat conversation between CEO Kwon and HOOK employees secured by SBS Entertainment News, Kim, who was in charge of buying medicine for CEO Kwon, said, “Mrs. CEO, I received a prescription for 28 days on December 20th last year at A university hospital. Today is the 26th day, so the medicine can be prescribed through the system next Monday. Starting this year, regulations on prescribing psychotropic medications would be strengthened. The hospital also said the prescription was not available. I didn’t check it in advance.”
The psychotropic medications had already been limited for prescriptions by proxy on December 20, 2021. Therefore, there is a possibility that CEO Kwon has violated the Medical Law if she received a psychotropic medication prescription through Kim. The two hospitals that CEO Kwon visited had close relationships with HOOK as HOOK has donated hundreds of millions of won to them and even signed business agreements since 2016.
In addition, a close acquaintance of CEO Kwon told SBS Entertainment News raised suspicions that CEO Kwon not only received prescriptions by proxy but also violated the regulations on psychotropic medicines as she was given a prescription for psychotropic medicine as a type of sleeping pill through a third party.
In this regard, a lawyer said, “If it did not meet the requirements of non-face-to-face prescription by proxy, there is a possibility of the CEO violating the Medical Law. If the medicines were prescribed even after knowing the regulations for proxy prescriptions, the pharmacist would likely be punished for violating the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act. Furthermore, if a third party receives a prescription on behalf of drugs classified as psychotropic medicines, they may be subject to violation of the Narcotics Control Act.”
In response, CEO Kwon’s legal representative said to SBS Entertainment News, “She received non-face-to-face prescriptions from the two hospitals in accordance with the law and procedures”, adding “Psychotropic medicines were also prescribed by the medical staff according to medical findings. That’s why there is no problem with the medicines being prescribed by proxy. She has never been given a sleeping pill through prescriptions by proxy”, denying the allegations.
Regarding the use of the corporate card, CEO Kwon’s side said, “Isn’t the payment for medicines just a small amount?”, adding “As we previously stated, CEO Kwon has already repaid with her own money”.
According to a report by Dispatch, CEO Kwon has spent more than 42 million won on medical bills from 2020 until this year.
Regarding the suspicions of CEO Kwon having a special relationship with the two hospitals, CEO Kwon’s legal representative emphasized, “It’s not true at all”.
Source: Nate
