Gangnam dermatologists secretly obtained 120,000 pills using foreign patients' names, took hundreds a day

Two doctors at a Gangnam dermatology clinic have been arrested for abusing their medical licenses to obtain and personally consume the psychotropic drug zolpidem.

The pair issued fraudulent prescriptions under the names of 3,400 foreign patients to acquire approximately 121,849 pills of the controlled substance, consuming every one of them. As their tolerance grew, they eventually took hundreds of pills a day.

The Seoul Gangnam Police Station said Friday it had forwarded the clinic's director, a doctor in his 40s identified as A, and a colleague identified as B to prosecutors on June 30 on charges including violations of the Narcotics Control Act.

Investigators also arrested others who had assisted the two doctors. In total, police referred 13 suspects to prosecutors, including hospital staff, pharmacists and pharmacy employees.

Between March 2025 and January 2026, A and B used the personal information of roughly 3,400 foreign patients who had visited the clinic to issue 4,331 fraudulent prescriptions. B personally visited a large pharmacy in Seoul with the fake prescriptions to obtain 121,849 zolpidem pills, which the two then consumed in their entirety.

As their tolerance to zolpidem increased, the doctors escalated their intake to hundreds of pills a day, police said. That dependence eventually led them to secretly remove propofol stored in the clinic's safe and inject it as well.

The pharmacists who dispensed the zolpidem also face charges. Arrested on suspicion of violating the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, the pharmacists at the large pharmacy handed over the drugs without verifying the authenticity of prescriptions bearing other people's names. Investigators also found that the pharmacy had sold the drugs without prescriptions at prices above the standard rate.

The investigation began after a tip from a foreign patient who had visited the clinic. The patient discovered, during a visit to a different hospital, that prescriptions had been issued in their name without their knowledge, and reported the matter to police. Officers conducted a six-month investigation before arresting the doctors, pharmacists and clinic and pharmacy staff involved.

"Purchasing or consuming psychotropic drugs under another person's name is a serious criminal offense," a Gangnam Police Station official said, urging anyone who discovers that prescriptions have been issued in their name without their consent to report it to police immediately.

The official added that police would continue to investigate the distribution and use of controlled medical substances to prevent their misuse and abuse.