Blocking 'Medical Narcotics Shopping'... Seoul City Signs Voluntary Regulation Agreement with Medical Community

Medical Institutions Verify Medication History Before Prescription
Inspection of Clinics Handling Propofol Underway
"Efforts to Create a Safe Usage Environment"

The Seoul Metropolitan Government is teaming up with medical institutions to eradicate 'medical narcotics shopping.' This initiative aims to reduce cases where patients visit multiple medical institutions to receive excessive or overlapping prescriptions of narcotic drugs. From now on, medical institutions must verify patients' medication histories before prescribing.

On the 13th, Seoul announced that it will launch a campaign to raise awareness about the misuse of medical narcotics and encourage self-regulation efforts within medical institutions by establishing the 'Seoul-type Medical Narcotics Safety Management Self-Regulation Plan.'

On the morning of the same day, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon and Hwang Gyu-seok, president of the Seoul Medical Association, signed an agreement at Seoul City Hall for the 'Medical Narcotics Safe Use Campaign.' Through this agreement, Seoul and the medical community will mutually cooperate to create a safe environment for the use of medical narcotics. Starting with about 100 medical institutions participating in the 'Medical Narcotics Self-Regulation,' Seoul plans to gradually expand the scope of cooperation.

The core of the 'Seoul-type Medical Narcotics Safety Management Self-Regulation' is to verify the patient's medication history before prescribing medical narcotics. Medical institutions will comply with safety standards for narcotics use and actively inform patients that they may face legal penalties if misuse is detected, thereby preventing narcotics shopping. Not only medical institutions but also patients themselves can check their narcotics medication history for the past year through the 'Narcotics Medical Shopping Prevention Information Network.' For example, propofol must be administered within the standard of once per month for simple procedural diagnoses, and if a patient violates this, they may face imprisonment of up to five years or a fine of up to 50 million won.

A Seoul city official stated, "Medical institutions participating in the campaign will not only cooperate with this self-regulation but also post a 'Seoul-type Medical Narcotics Safe Use' poster with the phrase 'Our medical institution uses medical narcotics safely' at entrances or reception desks where patients can easily see it."

Medical Narcotics Safe Use Campaign Poster. Provided by Seoul City