Despite History of 'Pentanil' Addiction, Medical License Maintained... Ministry of Health Delayed Action Despite Awareness

Audit Board Announces Audit on Medical Personnel Management and Unreported Births
Doctors with Mental Illness and Drug Addiction History... Still Retain Licenses
Total of 2,154 Children Without Birth Registration... 6 Cases with Unknown Life Status

It has been revealed that a doctor with a history of addiction to the narcotic analgesic 'Fentanyl,' which is addictive through inhalation alone, still holds a medical license. The Ministry of Health and Welfare should have taken administrative actions such as suspension of qualifications according to relevant laws and regulations, but improperly handled the administration by omitting or reducing penalties. The Board of Audit and Inspection issued a warning to the Ministry and notified them to prepare effective improvement measures to prevent recurrence.

On the 19th, the Board of Audit and Inspection conducted an audit on the Ministry of Health and Welfare's management of medical personnel and the management of children with unreported births as part of a regular audit according to schedule, and disclosed these results.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The audit revealed that the Ministry of Health and Welfare's management of medical license qualifications was inadequate regarding medical personnel suspected of 'narcotics addiction or mental illness,' which are disqualifying factors under the Medical Service Act. In fact, the entire process of managing medical qualifications was neglected, and some of these individuals were caught secretly performing non-reimbursable medical treatments even while their licenses were canceled or suspended.

First, in the case of mental illness, one doctor who was subject to treatment and custody for bipolar affective disorder and one Korean medicine doctor under treatment and custody for schizophrenia still maintained their licenses. Since 2020, the number of medical personnel treated for major mental illnesses such as dementia and schizophrenia as primary diseases was confirmed to be 102 and 70, respectively.

Cases of narcotics addiction were also found. Two doctors and one nurse with a history of treatment and protection for addiction to 'Fentanyl' or 'Pethidine' still held medical licenses. Notably, four doctors who received administrative sanctions between 2018 and 2022 were found to have administered narcotics to themselves or family members according to court rulings that were the basis for the sanctions, yet they retained their licenses.

According to the Narcotics Integrated Management System (operated by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety), an inspection of medical personnel's self-prescription and administration of narcotics from May 2018 to December 2022 found that 44 doctors had self-prescribed or self-administered narcotics more than 50 times annually, and among them, 12 were investigated for excessive cases exceeding 100 times per year.

The administrative sanction process for these individuals was also negligent. The Ministry of Health and Welfare received notifications of medical personnel violating the Medical Service Act from investigative agencies but left them unattended for long periods, quietly closing a total of 24 cases due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. Additionally, between 2018 and March 2023, out of 1,999 administrative sanctions against doctors and others, 1,848 cases were managed arbitrarily by delaying the start of sanctions based on subjective reasons such as the economic hardship claims of the subjects.

Furthermore, the Board of Audit and Inspection also released the final results of the audit conducted in June on children with unreported births. Earlier, during a regular audit of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, it was confirmed that children without birth registration were marginalized and neglected outside the system. According to the audit results, the total number of children born since 2015 without birth registration reached 2,154. The Board of Audit and Inspection believes that similar levels existed before 2014 as well. A sample survey of 23 children revealed that six cases involved children who had already died or whose whereabouts were unknown after being transferred to unidentified others, making their survival status unconfirmed.

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