SEOUL: Police have referred the head of a nursing hospital, along with doctors and nurses, to prosecutors on suspicion of repeatedly administering unprescribed psychotropic drugs to patients.
The Seoul Jongam Police Station said Tuesday (June 30) that it had referred 20 people, including the hospital chief, night-duty doctors and nurses, to the Seoul Northern District Prosecutors’ Office without detention on charges of violating the Narcotics Control Act and the Medical Service Act.
They are accused of arbitrarily administering anti-anxiety medication to patients without prescriptions when the patients shouted or were unable to sleep, beginning in October 2024.
Police found that the drugs administered to patients were either prescription medications brought in by newly admitted patients or leftover medication from patients who had died.
Instead of returning or disposing of the drugs through proper procedures, the hospital allegedly stored them separately and used them for unauthorized administrations.
Police said they believe the hospital chief and the head nurse also attempted to systematically cover up the practice ahead of an evaluation of nursing hospitals by the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service.
They allegedly instructed staff not to record the drug administrations in hospital records. - The Korea Herald/ANN
