K-pop star PSY, best known for his 2012 phenomenon hit “Gangnam Style,” is under investigation for allegedly using proxies to illegally obtain prescription drugs in South Korea, authorities said Thursday.
PSY, legally named Park Jae-sang, allegedly had other people, including his manager, receive prescriptions for Xanax and Stilnox from a university hospital on his behalf for the past three years.
The medications are commonly used to treat anxiety, depression and sleep disorders like insomnia. However, they also carry a high addiction risk, so in-person oversight and check-ins with doctors are often mandatory.
In South Korea, what would be a simple errand is complicated by its Medical Services Act, which only permits immediate family or caregivers to pick up prescriptions for their dependents.
The 48-year-old K-pop star apologized in a statement admitting to the “oversight” of having a third-party pick up his medication.
A tipster led South Korean police to the violation. Soon, the hospital administering the prescriptions had medical records seized as part of the investigation, and a doctor was booked on suspicion of running the transactions.
The doctor denied any wrongdoing and insisted he still conducted remote check-ins with the artist.
In a statement, P Nation, PSY’s agency, said that the K-pop star had been “diagnosed with a chronic sleeping disorder” and was taking the medications “in accordance with his medical team’s prescription,”.
“His use of sleeping medication has been under medical supervision and within the prescribed dosage. There was no proxy prescribing [but] there were instances in which a third party picked up the sleeping medication on his behalf,” the agency added.
The police probe remains ongoing.
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