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South Korean singer Psy. / Photo via Yonhap News

Singer Psy (real name Park Jae-sang, 49), who faces allegations of receiving tele-prescriptions for psychotropic drugs like sleeping inducements and having his managers pick them up by proxy, has been referred to prosecutors without detention.

The Seoul Seodaemun Police Station announced on the 2nd that it forwarded a total of six individuals, including Park, a university hospital professor who prescribed the medicine, and managers, to the prosecution without detention on the 29th of last month under charges of violating the Medical Service Act.

Park stands accused of receiving prescriptions for the psychotropic drugs 'Xanax' and 'Stilnox' at a university hospital in Seoul without in-person medical examinations from February 2022 to July last year, and having his managers and others collect them on his behalf. Xanax and Stilnox are psychotropic medicines utilized in treating sleep disorders, anxiety disorders, and depression, and as they carry a risk of misuse and abuse, prescription through in-person consultations stands as the general rule.

Under the current law, only a doctor who has directly examined a patient in person can write a prescription, and no one other than the patient who received the examination can collect it. Violating this rule can result in imprisonment for up to one year or a fine of up to 10 million won.

As the police launched an investigation last summer, Park's agency, P Nation, released a statement in August of the same year, stating, "It is a clear mistake and negligence to have picked up sleeping pills, which are prescription drugs, by proxy," while adding, "There was no proxy prescription." The agency further noted, "Psy was diagnosed with chronic sleep disorder and has been taking sleeping pills according to medical prescriptions," adding, "The intake of sleeping pills has been conducted under the guidance of medical staff by receiving and consuming prescribed dosages."

                                                                                                          Kim Hong-chan