Did a Single Doctor Prescribe 91 Years' Worth of Narcotics?

Tens of Thousands of Sleeping Pills and Appetite Suppressants Falsely Prescribed at Once
MFDS Responds Only After Three Months... Management System Rendered Ineffective
Jin Jinsook: "A Comprehensive Re-investigation of Medical Institutions Nationwide Is Needed"

Jin Jin-sook, member of the Democratic Party of Korea.

The belated revelation that a single doctor had fraudulently prescribed tens of thousands of sleeping pills and appetite suppressants has exposed serious loopholes in the narcotics management system of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS). Criticism is mounting, particularly over the MFDS's failure to promptly detect such abnormal mass prescriptions, only responding months after the fact.

According to data submitted by Jin Jinsook, member of the Democratic Party of Korea (Gwangju Buk-gu Eul), on October 16, the MFDS detected suspicious prescription patterns at a particular medical institution during an analysis of the Narcotics Information Management System (NIMS) on June 16. The physician in question was found to have prescribed 14,036 tablets of zolpidem and 19,264 tablets of appetite suppressants in a single instance. This amount is equivalent to a 38-year supply of zolpidem and a 53-year supply of appetite suppressants.

An on-site inspection revealed that the doctor admitted to entering false prescriptions under their own name to reconcile inventory discrepancies in the system, which had arisen from failing to properly report narcotics usage. In other words, this was a manipulation intended solely to resolve paperwork issues, entirely unrelated to patient treatment.

However, the MFDS's response revealed even greater problems. Even after becoming aware of the incident, the MFDS failed to determine when the misconduct began, whether similar issues existed at other medical institutions, or even how much of the fraudulently prescribed medication was actually administered to or leaked to patients. In response to these concerns, the MFDS has consistently stated, "It is difficult to disclose such matters as they are related to an ongoing investigation."

Furthermore, it was not until three months after becoming aware of the incident, on September 10, that the MFDS requested administrative action against the doctor from the relevant local government and referred the case to law enforcement. This has been criticized as a belated attempt at damage control after the incident had already occurred, reinforcing concerns that the Narcotics Information Management System, a core national safeguard against narcotics abuse, is not functioning properly. This case is being cited as a textbook example of systemic failure in narcotics management.

Jin Jinsook stated, "If a single doctor can prescribe tens of thousands of tablets of two types of narcotic drugs-sleeping pills and appetite suppressants-at once, this is not a matter of individual misconduct but a collapse of the system and its safeguards. The MFDS does not even know when, where, or how often such incidents have occurred. The system is not a management system, but a paralyzed system," she strongly criticized.

Jin Jinsook further emphasized, "The Narcotics Information Management System is a core national safeguard against drug abuse, yet the MFDS's failure to properly monitor it allowed for false reporting and mass prescriptions, which constitutes a grave dereliction of duty. This is not an issue that can be resolved with administrative action or a criminal referral alone; a comprehensive re-investigation of narcotics inventories and reporting practices at medical institutions nationwide is necessary."

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