Physicians are asking pharmaceutical sales representatives to criticize the government’s healthcare policy and support doctors’ ongoing strike via online activities, according to social media sites.

A posting on Blind, a social networking site allowing an anonymous forum for verified employees, recently claimed that doctors sent links of their Facebook or YouTube postings to drug salespersons to push the “like” button. The writer said he or she was an employee at a domestic drugmaker.

“Doctors asked us to screen capture the ‘like’ button we pushed and even made us compete against our rivals,” the writer said on Blind.

“A doctor asked drug sales reps to subscribe to his YouTube channel and ‘like’ it, and one of my clients checked whether I watched his YouTube broadcast,” the writer added.

The YouTube channel mentioned above is far-right, aggressively supporting the ongoing doctors’ walkout and updating the latest news of interns and residents in collective actions.

The posting on Blind instantly drew many comments by pharmaceutical salespersons, who said they had similar experiences. Although some sales reps said they have never experienced such coercion, most of them from local and multinational drugmakers rushed to share their experiences.

“My client does not go that far to check on me but asks the other doctor to pressure me. Then, the salesperson asks other colleagues to promote the doctor’s online writing,” said one of the comments on the Blind posting. Other words included “Oh, it was not just me that had to push the subscription button,” “A doctor sent me the online link through Kakao Talk and checked if I sent it to my friends.”

The Blind posting was also shared on other social networking sites, including Facebook, prompting general internet users' anger.

One Facebook user who shared the screenshot of the Blind brought comments saying it was surprising that doctors were doing “gapjil” against pharmaceutical employees amid the strike. Gapjil is a Korean word for abuse of power by those in superior positions against the weak.

Others said doctors seemed to regard themselves as people with a high social position mistakenly.

kym@docdocdoc.co.kr

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