Appetite Suppressants as a Cause of Reckless Driving? ... The Backlash of Drug Misuse and Abuse

Abuse and Misuse of Psychotropic Appetite Suppressants
Causing Hallucinations, Auditory Hallucinations, and Mental Disorders... Risk of Accidents
Increase in Patients Abusing Drugs Due to Preference for Thin Bodies

A woman who overdosed on psychotropic appetite suppressants caused a multiple-vehicle traffic accident. Psychotropic appetite suppressants, classified as narcotics, can cause various side effects, including schizophrenia and hallucinations or auditory hallucinations.

Recently, a woman in her 20s, Ms. A, who engaged in reckless driving by crashing into six vehicles in broad daylight in Seogwipo, Jeju, was handed over to the prosecution. Ms. A is suspected of overdosing on psychotropic appetite suppressants and crashing into six vehicles, including police cars and passenger cars.

The police believe that Ms. A experienced side effects such as hallucinations due to an overdose of psychotropic appetite suppressants. Ms. A was prescribed and took an appetite suppressant containing the psychotropic drug phendimetrazine at a hospital in the Gyeonggi area in October last year, and it is also known that she secretly took diet pills prescribed to her mother.

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Phendimetrazine, phentermine, diethylpropion (amfepramone), mazindol, and other psychotropic appetite suppressants are classified as narcotics. These substances manipulate signals in the brain to make it feel not hungry or full, stimulate the central nervous system to increase heart rate, and reduce food intake, and are used to treat obese patients with a body mass index (BMI) of 25 kg/m² or higher.

Psychotropic drugs are effective for weight loss but have significant side effects. In the case of phentermine, long-term use for more than three months increases the risk of pulmonary arterial hypertension, severe heart disease, and cardiovascular disease. Therefore, the duration of use is limited, with short-term use within four weeks generally being the principle. However, the duration can be extended depending on the type of drug or the doctor's judgment.

They can cause physical and psychological dependence or chronic intoxication symptoms that resemble schizophrenia and other mental disorders. The number of adverse events reported after prescribing narcotic appetite suppressants to the Korea Institute of Drug Safety & Risk Management averaged 1,478 cases over three years (2018?2020).

The problem is that the preference for a slim body has led to an increase in patients who misuse or abuse these drugs. Especially among young people, cases of misuse and abuse are rising. According to the National Health Insurance, the number of teenagers treated for drug misuse and addiction increased by 41.4%, from 1,187 in 2020 to 1,678 in 2021.

The number of appetite suppressant prescriptions has exceeded 200 million for three consecutive years. According to the "2021 Medical Narcotics Handling Statistics (National Approved Statistics)" announced by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and the Korea Institute of Drug Safety & Risk Management in July last year, the number of appetite suppressant prescriptions was 250,544,576 in 2019, 253,706,272 in 2020, and 244,952,097 in 2021.

The duration of appetite suppressant use has also been increasing. According to the prescription status of "narcotic obesity drugs" submitted by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety to Lee Jong-seong, a member of the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee from the People Power Party, the average number of days prescribed per person was 81.8 days from July to December 2018, 116 days in 2019, and 112 days in 2020, indicating that on average, individuals were prescribed these drugs for more than three months per year.

The government has strengthened crackdowns related to narcotic drug prescriptions. Last month, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety issued orders prohibiting prescription and dispensing activities to 219 doctors who prescribed narcotic drugs beyond the standard limits. This action was taken because prescribing practices did not improve despite repeated prescriptions exceeding the standards. In the case of appetite suppressants, 114 doctors received warnings for ▲ prescribing or dispensing for more than three months ▲ combined prescriptions or dispensing of two or more types of appetite suppressants ▲ prescribing or dispensing to adolescents or children.

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