Behind the fact that Yoo Ah In used propofol 73 times…Only 0.04% of drug prescriptions have history check
Even if the inquiry system is in place, the number of doctors who use it is less than 1%. Voices are growing that it is necessary to make history inquiry mandatory in order to prevent cases like actor Yoo Ah In, who visited various hospitals and administered propofol dozens of times.
According to the “current status of medical drug prescriptions” and “current status of medical shopping prevention information network” identified by Democratic Party of Korea’s lawmaker Kang Sun Woo through the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on March 10th, around 100 million medical drugs are prescribed annually at about 40,000 medical institutions nationwide.
About 99 million prescriptions were made in 2019 and 2020, and 103 million in 2021. Last year, 93 million prescriptions were made between January and November, and considering the December figure, it is estimated that the number exceeded 100 million.
As medical drug prescriptions increase and the problem of misuse grows, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has been operating a medical shopping prevention information network since June 2020 where doctors can inquire patients’ medication history. This is to check patients’ drug administration history to prevent prescriptions and administrations if there is a concern about misuse.
It has been 3 years since the information network was operated, but its utilization is extremely insignificant. The number of doctors prescribing drugs is about 100,000 annually, but only 8,822 people (as of December last year) are subscribers to the information network, which is less than 1%. From January to November last year, 105,639 doctors prescribed drugs, but only 338 doctors (0.32%) used the information network. The number of information network inquiries was only 45,557, or 0.04% of the total number of prescriptions.
The reason is that it is not mandatory to use the information network. Accordingly, an amendment to the Narcotics Control Act, which mandates inquiry only for some drugs, was approved last month by the National Assembly’s Health and Welfare Committee, and is currently pending at the Legislation and Judiciary Committee.
Some argue that additional measures, such as not only using the information network but also obliging doctors to refuse prescriptions, should be followed. In 2021, Yoo Ah In, who is suspected of taking drugs, visited various hospitals in Seoul and administered more than 4,400ml of propofol a total of 73 times. A hospital that Yoo Ah In visited cautioned “You shouldn’t move around different hospitals”, but it was investigated that medical shopping continued about 100 times over 2 years.
Lawmaker Kang said, “As drug prescriptions and administrations require thorough management supervision, additional mandatory measures such as reporting to health authorities or refusing prescriptions are needed when doctors discover circumstances such as medical shopping and overdosing.”
Source: Nate
