Scope of Prescription History Verification System
to Expand to Appetite Suppressants and Zolpidem After Fentanyl
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and the Korea Institute of Drug Safety & Risk Management announced on June 27 that they will expand the scope of the 'Medical Narcotics Prescription History Verification System' to include ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) medications (methylphenidate).
Given the high number of hospitals and clinics, prescribing physicians, and prescription cases for ADHD medications, the authorities will first implement this measure as a 'recommendation' through consultation with medical organizations.
When physicians or dentists use prescription software at medical institutions to prescribe medical narcotics, the system is linked to the Integrated Narcotics Management System, allowing them to automatically check a patient's prescription history for the past year through a pop-up notification. With technical support from the Korea Institute of Drug Safety & Risk Management, approximately 60% (3,148 out of 5,013) of hospitals that prescribed ADHD medications last year are currently using prescription software equipped with the automatic pop-up feature.
To ensure the prompt adoption of prescription history verification for ADHD medications, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety will individually notify physicians with a history of prescribing ADHD medications via online messengers such as KakaoTalk, and will also operate a counseling center.
In the case of fentanyl, for which prescription history verification became mandatory in June of last year, the volume of prescriptions decreased by about 14% compared to the same period the previous year.
Going forward, the Ministry plans to gradually expand the prescription history verification system to other medical narcotics with potential for misuse, such as appetite suppressants and zolpidem.
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