K-pop artist PSY, best known for his international 2012 hit “Gangnam Style,” is under investigation for allegedly using proxies to illegally obtain prescription drugs in South Korea, according to authorities.
PSY, legally named Park Jae-sang, allegedly had other people, including his manager, pick up prescriptions for Xanax and Stilnox from a university hospital on his behalf for the past three years.
Both 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, though, 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, who shattered records in 2012 after “Gangnam Style” sparked a global dance trend, 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, though, denied any wrongdoing and insisted he still conducted remote check-ins with Jae-sang.
P Nation, PSY’s agency, added 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,” according to a statement obtained by Gulf News.
“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 said.
“Gangnam Style” was the first video to ever reach 1 billion views on YouTube. It then became the first video to reach 2 billion views on the platform in 2014.
The viral hit sparked a new era of flash mob dances in every corner of the globe.
One year after the song was released, a man was dancing to it at a wedding while holding an AK-47 and accidentally opened fire mid-skip and mowed down the celebrants, killing three.
