SEOUL: A nurse assistant was arrested on July 7 after she was caught injecting herself with propofol on her first day of work at a dermatology clinic in Seoul’s Gangnam-gu.
Seoul Gangnam Police Station said the 20-something woman was arrested on charges of violating the Narcotics Control Act and is under investigation.
The nurse assistant is accused of self-administering the anaesthetic drug after finding a leftover syringe inside a waste bin.
Propofol is a fast-acting intravenous sedative used to induce anaesthesia. Abuse can trigger severe complications and even death.
The woman has been booked without physical detention, and authorities are investigating whether she has been using the drug habitually.
The case comes as the use of medical narcotics continues to rise in South Korea, with critics calling for stricter measures on how the drugs are stored, handled and disposed at clinics and hospitals.
About 20.2 million patients, or roughly four in 10 South Koreans, received at least one prescription for a medical narcotic in 2025, according to 2025 statistics released in June by the Drug Ministry and the Korea Institute of Drug Safety and Risk Management. - The Korea Herald/ANN
