The doctor who was put on trial for prescribing the propofol to actor Yoo Ah In and self-injecting it was given a suspended prison sentence.
On the 25th, the Seoul Central District Court sentenced Shin (51), who was accused of violating the Drug Management Act (narcotics), to one year and two months in prison with a two-year suspension. He also ordered 40 hours of drug treatment courses.
Shin was found guilty of all the charges. The presiding judge pointed out, “Propofol is widely used as an intravenous injection and has been treated as a narcotic since 2011 due to misuse incidents. Despite knowing this as a doctor, he administered the drug and did not register the administration in the system. He ended up using a large amount of propofol for over a year without being managed by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.”
He also added, “Regardless of the social issues, the fact that the doctor himself directly injected propofol was considered a negative factor in the sentencing.”
Shin was indicted on charges of injecting propofol twice at a hospital in Gangnam last year and administering propofol to Yoo several times without reporting it to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.
At the trial held on the 5th of last month, Shin’s lawyer argued, “He made the wrong judgment due to the mental shock and health problems caused by poor health and worsening hospital management.” Shin’s lawyer continued, “Korea is the only country in the world that classifies propofol as a psychotropic drug. It was designated as such due to populism after the death of Michael Jackson during the injection process.”
On the 18th, Yoon, another doctor who was charged with prescribing propofol to Yoo, received a sentence of six months in prison with a one-year suspension, and another doctor identified as Kim was fined KRW 15 million (approximately $13,000).
Including them, six doctors were indicted without detention last October when illegal activities were detected during the prosecution investigation for Yoo’s habitual use of propofol and illegal purchase of Zolpidem in other people’s names.
The remaining three doctors are being tried in the first trial in the same court.