1년 프로포폴 54번 ‘의료쇼핑’ 환자 등 수사 의뢰…내일부터 투약 내역 확인제 시행

Last year, 54 instances of "medical shopping" were investigated involving the overuse or duplicate prescription of propofol, a sedative used for anesthesia during surgery. The investigation, carried out by the Korean Food and Drug Administration (KFDA), revealed that 13 medical institutions and 13 patients were under scrutiny. Based on a comprehensive review of the number of times patients took propofol and the reasons for the prescriptions, 13 medical institutions and 13 patients were referred for further investigation.

The patients had an average of 29 instances of propofol over a year, visiting an average of six medical institutions. One patient was prescribed propofol 54 times by 13 different medical institutions - for cosmetic procedures like skin whitening and mole removal. Another medical institution prescribed propofol 36 times to a single patient over a year.

From now, on January 27, the KFDA will implement a system to check propofol prescription history to prevent "medical shopping." Physicians will verify the patient's propofol intake over the past year to determine whether prescriptions were excessive or duplicate. The government has gradually expanded the list of prescription medicines to be checked for misuse.

In 2024, the painkiller pentazocine will be mandatory for checking prescription history, followed by methylphenidate for ADHD treatment in June and appetite suppressants like fenoteridine, pendimetrazine, and diethylpropion in December. In March, the sedative haloprom was added to the list of medicines to be checked.