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“We cannot answer your question as we have to ask our global headquarters for comment and win their approval. Can you give us the question you want to ask in a document so we can ask our headquarters?”That was the response from a spokesperson for Janssen Korea, the local offshoot of Johnson & Johnso
Reporter’s Notebook
Lee Han-soo
2022.04.12 16:47
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The two leading presidential candidates and their camps exchanged verbal battles during the Lunar New Year holiday over foreign residents’ health insurance coverage.On Sunday, Yoon Suk-yeol, the standard-bearer of the conservative opposition People Power Party (PPP), said he would strengthen the reg
Reporter’s Notebook
Lee Han-soo
2022.02.03 17:32
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On Saturday night, Haeundae Beach, the major tourist spot in Busan, was in commotion as visitors set off firecrackers and held parties without wearing masks amid the Covid-19 pandemic.t turned out that the unrest was due to the rave party held by United States Forces Korea (USFK) and other foreigner
Reporter’s Notebook
Lee Han-soo
2021.05.31 14:46
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More than five months have passed since Korea began battling against the Covid-19 pandemic after confirming its first patient on Jan. 20.The new coronavirus’ outbreak has forced peoples to adjust to the new normal -- a term that implies that something previously abnormal has become commonplace – it also brought about various changes in the journalistic community.As a reporter specializ
Reporter’s Notebook
Lee Han-soo
2020.06.25 11:04
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The 2020 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting completed its first online meeting last week.Despite its abrupt switch to an online format due to the global Covid-19 outbreak, the conference seems to have responded quite well to the change, publishing many noteworthy pieces of research.However, quite a few Korean biopharmaceutical companies said that the conference
Reporter’s Notebook
Lee Han-soo
2020.06.08 16:45
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The Korean biopharmaceutical companies have recently increased their presence in the global market by participating in world-renowned conferences and presenting their research results there.This year, for instance, Korean drug makers interacted with global companies and physicians by attending various events, including the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting, European Leag
Reporter’s Notebook
Lee Han-soo
2019.12.11 16:58
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The 2019 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting was befitting of its reputation. Just the size of the McCormick Center, the venue of the conference, and the participants were enough to explain why ASCO is one of the leading medical conferences worldwide.It was not hard to feel a sense of pride regarding the strong presence of Korean researchers and professors at ASCO 2
Reporter’s Notebook
Lee Han-soo
2019.06.21 15:24
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The most shocking news in the biotech industry in the first half was the mislabeling of osteoarthritis therapy Invossa-K by Kolon Life Science.Physicians have used the treatment, trusting the data confirmed by the regulator after clinical trials. However, one of the drug ingredients has been mislabeled the whole time, appalling everyone – the drugmaker, the regulator, and patients. Mor
Reporter’s Notebook
Lee Hye-seon
2019.04.29 16:09
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Recently, pharmaceutical companies have developed various biological agents for the treatment of inflammatory diseases.With more treatment options available other than the conventional tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) inhibitors, the risk of developing tuberculosis has emerged as a major concern in the use of biological medicines.Experts say using TNF-α inhibitors for the first-line tre
Reporter’s Notebook
Kim Yun-mi
2019.03.29 17:10
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“Please insert ‘severe’ in front of ‘acute pancreatitis’ in the headline and the main body of your English article.”Such request came from Samsung Bioepis to Korea Biomedical Review (KBR), the healthcare-focused English news outlet and the sister paper of the vernacular Korean Doctors’ Weekly. On Monday, the company released a press release announcing that it gained U.S. approval f
Reporter’s Notebook
Nam Doo-hyun
2018.08.16 14:18
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“I do not think the questions are relevant to this occasion. Please check them with our external cooperation division.”Such absurd response came from Kang Sung-sik, Country Medical Director and Internal Medicine Lead of Pfizer Korea, at a news conference hosted by the company on anti-smoking drug Champix in Seoul, Wednesday.This reporter asked three questions to Pfizer Korea.The first
Reporter’s Notebook
So Jae-hyeon
2018.06.01 14:41
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Thirty-six Koreans commit suicide every day. That translates into one death every 40 minutes.But that has long ceased to be news here. Korea has held the title of “suicide nation” among OECD countries. According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare Tuesday, about 13,000 people ended their lives in 2016, including 1,900 individuals in their 30s, 2,600 in their 40s, and 2,700 in their 50s.A
Reporter’s Notebook
Marian Chu
2018.04.18 12:53
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Korean pharmaceutical and biosimilar companies have recently stepped up their efforts to sell and advertise their products overseas. Despite accelerating marketing efforts, however, most of them still produce press releases in Korean and provide the materials only for vernacular media outlets. To be sure, the domestic companies have successfully exported their products through licensin
Reporter’s Notebook
Lee Han-soo
2018.03.09 17:42
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Korea takes up the lion’s share in manufacturing condoms worldwide but ranks last among OECD countries when it comes to using them.Condoms are, without argument, a method for having safe sex. The barrier device, commonly made from latex, decreases the chance of pregnancy by around 85 percent. And unlike birth control pills, condoms also protect against sexually transmitted infection such a
Reporter’s Notebook
Marian Chu
2018.01.09 10:31
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With the Hallyu wave and a dictatorship ruled by a lunatic on its doorstep, a spotlight has been given to South Korea over the past several years. The government has used this advantage to robustly promote the nation’s language, its customs and etiquette, and of course, its food.If one scrolls through Google after typing “Korean cuisine,” dozens of articles and blogs will pop up. And in every
Reporter’s Notebook
Constance Williams
2017.11.27 17:49
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Despite the national slogan to attract more foreign tourists, the government does not seem to be keen on protecting foreigners after they arrive here.The lack of concerns about foreigners’ safety in times of natural disasters and massive epidemics has been noticeable over the past few years.A case in point was the government’s reactions to the outbreak of the Middle Eastern Respiratory
Reporter’s Notebook
Lee Han-soo
2017.11.27 17:37
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Kim Chu-young, a hiker in his mid-60s, was climbing up Mt. Achasan in southern Seoul last month, as he had always done every weekend for years, when he suddenly collapsed on the mountaintop.As luck would have it, Kim Ki-man, a KBS announcer, stumbled across him and immediately sensed something was wrong. After failing to find his heartbeat, Kim called 119.A cardiac arrest causes permanent
Reporter’s Notebook
Constance Williams
2017.11.01 15:38
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The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, better known as the Ministry of Women여성가족부, raised more than a few eyebrows within the government because of its patronizing – and misaimed -- remarks on gender recently.The ministry sent out a loaded press release last week saying “(women) should be justly respected as human beings” while trying to address low female participation in clinical tr
Reporter’s Notebook
Marian Chu
2017.08.24 18:07
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I remember my first HIV/AIDS commercial vividly over 13 years ago. It was on a hot and sticky summer day in Hong Kong and being a typical 11-12-year-old, I was eagerly glued to the TV to watch the latest episode of the cartoon series X-men. The channel resumed to its boring 5-minute commercial run, and suddenly I saw basketball player Yao Ming, one of China's best-known athletes, laughing brightly
Reporter’s Notebook
Constance Williams
2017.07.19 17:19
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On Tuesday, a postman burned himself to death after his superiors changed his delivery zone of the past 20 years. The previous day, a bus driver dozed off in the middle of a highway, killing two and injuring 16.In reporting these accidents, the media focused on facts. And the most common reaction to the postman’s death was drenched in sarcasm. Readers said, “He must have been the best post
Reporter’s Notebook
Marian Chu
2017.07.12 16:45
