MFDS "44 Cases of Youth Prescriptions and Doctor Dispensing of Medical Narcotic 'Fentanyl Patch' Detected"

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jung] The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (Commissioner Kim Gang-rip) announced on the 29th that, based on big data analysis from the Narcotics Integrated Management System, it inspected 50 medical institutions suspected of misuse prescriptions of medical narcotics such as fentanyl patches from the 31st of last month to the 4th of this month, in cooperation with the National Police Agency and the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, and detected violations at 44 institutions.

Fentanyl patches belong to the opioid class, like opium and morphine, and are powerful analgesics. They are medical narcotics used by attaching them to the skin to relieve persistent chronic pain.

This joint inspection targeted ▲34 medical institutions suspected of prescribing fentanyl patches for misuse to patients in their teens and twenties ▲16 medical institutions suspected of doctors prescribing (administering) narcotics for misuse to themselves.

As a result of the inspection, 39 places suspected of handling narcotics for purposes other than work, such as misuse prescriptions and administration, and 11 institutions violating obligations such as failing to prepare medical records and report narcotics handling were detected.

Examples of misuse prescriptions and administration include cases such as prescribing 145 patches over 32 times in about 7 months without adhering to the dosage and administration (1 patch per 3 days), receiving 43 patches over 5 times by visiting 3 medical institutions within about a month, and prescribing to non-cancer pain patients under 18 years old based only on interviews without confirming history of other narcotic analgesic administration.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety took measures such as requesting investigations by police and other investigative agencies and administrative actions by the relevant local governments for the 44 detected institutions in accordance with the Narcotics Control Act.

The Ministry stated, "Through this joint inspection, we expect the safety management system for medical narcotics to be further strengthened by paying close attention to misuse when prescribing and administering narcotics such as fentanyl patches at medical institutions," and added, "In the case of fentanyl patches, we urged frontline medical sites not to prescribe or use them for non-cancer pain patients under 18 years old according to the approved indications and safety use standards."

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