Government moves against “height-growth shots” as doctors warn they should be used only for medical conditions

Growth hormone injections are being marketed as “height-growth shots,” but South Korean health authorities and doctors are warning that they are prescription treatments for specific medical conditions, not general height enhancers.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said it would apply risk-management plans to 21 somatropin products made by eight companies from this month. Pharmaceutical companies must distribute instructions for patients and medical professionals and regularly submit their collection and analysis of adverse-event reports.

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Growth hormone injections should not become a gift that parents give their children simply to make them taller.

The ministry said the measures reflect rising use, reports of serious side effects and illegal online advertising. Growth hormone prescriptions increased from 895,011 in 2020 to 1,621,154 in 2024, an 81.1% rise. Prescription spending grew from 59.7 billion won to 159.3 billion won over the same period, exceeding 150 billion won for the first time.

Reported adverse events linked to growth hormone injections reached 1,809 in 2024, including 165 serious cases. Serious reports rose from nine in 2020 to 165 in 2024, more than an 18-fold increase. Reported cases included pneumonia, mycoplasma pneumonia, appendicitis, fever and worsening conditions. Online advertisements for illegal sales or brokering of related medicines rose from two cases in 2021 to 111 by August this year.

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Many parents worry that something may be wrong when their child is short, but most common causes of short stature are not diseases.

Doctors stressed that being shorter than classmates does not automatically make a child a candidate for treatment. Growth hormone drugs are approved for conditions including growth hormone deficiency, Turner syndrome and idiopathic short stature, as well as several other disorders. Doctors assess growth speed, blood tests and bone age, rather than relying only on a child's current height.

Ahn Moon-bae, a professor of pediatrics at Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, said most causes of short stature are not diseases. He said treatment should not become a gift parents give their children simply to make them taller. Its benefits are established when a medical condition requires it, he said, but it cannot guarantee a taller adult height for a healthy child without such a condition.

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Growth hormone treatment has clearly reported effects when treatment is needed, but it cannot guarantee final adult-height growth for a healthy child without a disease.