'Hospitals and Pharmacies Face Up to 1-Year Closure for Illegal Drug Use'

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] In the future, if narcotics handlers such as hospitals and pharmacies illegally use narcotics, the suspension period for their business will be extended up to one year.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced on the 22nd that it had revised and promulgated the "Enforcement Rules of the Narcotics Control Act" the day before, with this as a key point.

If hospitals or clinics use narcotics for purposes other than medical use such as treatment or prevention of diseases, the administrative penalty will increase from a 6-month suspension to a 12-month suspension. If narcotics are administered without a prescription or based on a false prescription, the suspension period will be significantly strengthened from 1 month to 6 months.

Although theft or loss of medical narcotics has continued, there was no way to hold responsible parties accountable for negligence in storage facilities and employee management. Penalties for this have also been newly established and strengthened.

The standards for the materials of narcotics storage devices have also been improved. Previously, storage devices for narcotics were limited to steel safes with double locks, but going forward, safes made of steel or materials equally or more robust may be used.

Inspection items for medical narcotics storage facilities have been clarified. Medical institutions and pharmacies must inspect narcotics storage facilities at least once a week and keep inspection records. At this time, the targets for abnormality checks are clearly divided into "storage facilities, inventory, and others."

A Ministry of Food and Drug Safety official said, "Through this regulatory revision, we will respond more strictly to cases of illegal leakage, use, and abuse of medical narcotics."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.