The Supreme Court said Friday that doctors of traditional Korean medicine, also known as Oriental medicine doctors, cannot be punished for using brain wave sensors, a modern medical device, to diagnose Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases.
The top court's ruling came after a Korean medicine doctor was slapped with a three-month license suspension by the health ministry in 2012 for using the electronic sensor in the diagnosis of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases at his clinic in southern Seoul in 2010 and launched a suit to nullify the punishment in 2013.
The issue of the trial was whether the use of the sensor, also called an electroencephalograph (EEG), can be subject to license suspension under the Medical Service Act.
A district court ruled in favor of the health ministry saying EEGs cannot be viewed as included in traditional Korean medicine.
But the appellate court reversed the ruling and ordered the ministry to scrap the plaintiff's license suspension in 2016, saying medical devices whose usage and principles are aligned with those of Oriental medicine can be allowed for Korean medicine doctors.
The health ministry appealed and the Supreme Court ruled after seven years of deliberation that the appellate court's decision was reasonable.
Source: Yonhap News Agency