Photo = News 1 Recently, the so-called ‘narcotic medical shopping’, in which a patient receives propofol and other drugs while visiting various medical institutions, has become a problem, and the Seoul Metropolitan Government has rolled up its sleeves to prevent the illegal distribution and misuse of ‘propofol’.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that it will begin a thorough inspection of 1,000 clinics that handle more than one case of propofol per day from Thursday the 17th to January next year. We plan to impose strong administrative sanctions on medical institutions found to be in violation, while requesting the police for investigation in cases where drug misuse is suspected.
Propofol is widely used as an anesthetic, but as cases of excessive use for non-essential medical purposes such as cosmetic procedures have recently increased, the city decided to inspect it as illegal distribution and abuse can seriously threaten citizens’ health, such as increasing drug dependence. .
First, the city will form a 600-person drug watchdog jointly with the Seoul Metropolitan Government and autonomous districts, and will begin visiting and inspecting about 1,000 clinics that use propofol on average more than once a day by Wednesday, January 22 next year. Starting with Gangnam-gu on the 17th (Thursday), we will visit medical institutions throughout Seoul to conduct direct inspections.
In the inspection, we plan to check whether propofol storage standards are followed, ▴ whether the inventory amount matches the Integrated Narcotic Drug Management System (NIMS), ▴ whether medical narcotics are used beyond their expiration date, etc. In addition, as the amount of propofol prescriptions per doctor at the clinic appears to be higher than that of doctors at the hospital, we plan to focus on inspecting ‘clinics’.
The city plans to take strong administrative action and request a police investigation for medical institutions found to be in violation. Violation of medical drug storage regulations may result in a suspension of up to one month, imprisonment of up to one year, or a fine of up to 10 million won.
In addition, in case of inventory discrepancy, a business suspension of up to 3 months, imprisonment of up to 2 years, or a fine of up to 20 million won may be imposed.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government expects that this inspection will raise awareness of narcotic management in medical institutions and provide a foundation for solving the problem of propofol misuse.
Considering the fact that the city has the largest number of patients prescribed by narcotic ingredient in the country and the fact that medication is administered directly at medical institutions, the city conducted this inspection of ‘propofol’ first, and plans to consider expanding the inspection target in the future.
Kim Tae-hee, director of the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s Citizen Health Bureau, said, “This comprehensive inspection is being carried out to preemptively prevent the illegal distribution and misuse of medical narcotics and to ensure that citizens can receive treatment in a safer medical environment.” He added, “Citizens are also encouraged to regularly use medical narcotics. “We hope that you will pay attention and be aware of the risk of misuse,” he said.
Song Chi-hoon, Donga.com reporter sch53@donga.com
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