Hana Center's Lax Management of 'Narcotic Drugs' Prescribed to North Korean Defectors

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[Asia Economy Reporter Geum Bo-ryeong] It has been revealed that Hana Center (Office for the Settlement Support of North Korean Defectors), which helps North Korean defectors settle in society, managed prescription narcotic drugs carelessly.

According to the comprehensive internal audit results submitted by the Ministry of Unification on the 11th to the office of Rep. Cho Tae-yong of the People Power Party, a member of the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, Hana Clinic, a medical facility within Hana Center, was found to have possessed more psychotropic drugs than reported to the authorities and received a "warning" in April last year.

At that time, Hana Clinic had a total of 245.5 more tablets of five types of psychotropic drugs than the reported inventory. These five types included mostly tranquilizers or sleeping pills such as Stilnox, a sleep inducer containing zolpidem, as well as Rivotril, Alprazolam, Ativan, and Diazepam. Considering that the usual single dose of these drugs is about 0.5 to 1 tablet, the excess inventory was analyzed to be a considerable amount.

Under current law, medical institutions handling psychotropic drugs must report the product names, quantities, and inventory of such drugs to the Minister of Food and Drug Safety through the Narcotics Integrated Management System. Hana Center explained that from February to April last year, they prescribed these drugs to many trainees, but later failed to manage the drugs returned by trainees whose symptoms improved or who experienced side effects.

It was also revealed that Hana Clinic's management of the "Narcotics Storage Facility Inspection Log," which they prepare themselves, was lax. The main Hana Center in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province, which houses female and adolescent North Korean defectors, missed inspection logs from February 24 to April 23 last year, and the Gangwon Hwacheon branch, which houses male defectors, missed logs from March 27 to April 27 last year.

Hana Center stated that after the audit, they disposed of the unreported psychotropic drugs through the local health center and currently store psychotropic drugs separately from general medicines in a locked place with a locking device.

Rep. Cho said, "Many North Korean defectors suffer from various diseases caused during the defection process," adding, "Since Hana Center is the first gateway to life in the Republic of Korea for defectors, narcotic drug management must be more thorough to prevent drug misuse."

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