The Ministery of Food and Drug Safety decided to include three appetite suppressants, commonly called "weight-loss drugs," among those for which doctors must check a patient's medical narcotics administration history before writing a prescription. As concerns grow over the misuse and abuse of medical narcotics such as fentanyl and propofol, the move tightens oversight to block "doctor shopping," in which people visit multiple medical institutions to obtain duplicate or excessive prescriptions.
The Ministery of Food and Drug Safety and the Korea Institute of Drug Satety & Risk Management said that starting on the 16th they will expand the recommended substances under the "medical narcotics administration history check system" to include appetite suppressants. Under this system, doctors are guided to make appropriate prescriptions after checking a patient's medical narcotics administration history for the past year through the Narcotics Information Management System (doctor shopping prevention network). The goal is to preemptively stop the practice of moving between medical institutions to receive repeat prescriptions.
Currently, the use standard for narcotic appetite suppressants approved in Korea is limited to "short-term adjunctive therapy for weight loss" only when the body mass index (BMI—the value obtained by dividing weight by height squared) is 30 or higher, or 27 or higher accompanied by risk factors such as high blood pressure or diabetes. Nevertheless, in recent years, duplicate and excessive prescriptions for simple cosmetic purposes have increased, and the problem of misuse and abuse has been continuously raised.
The substances covered by this expansion are three appetite suppressants: phentermine, phendimetrazine, and diethylpropion. Accordingly, when prescribing appetite suppressants, doctors can check a patient's medical narcotics administration history for the past year via an automatic alert window through prescribing software linked to the doctor shopping prevention network. With technical support from the Korea Institute of Drug Satety & Risk Management, many hospitals and clinics have already adopted this function.
Earlier, in June last year, the Ministery of Food and Drug Safety made it mandatory to check administration histories for fentanyl tablets and patches, and in June this year designated methylphenidate, an attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medication with steadily rising prescription volumes, as a recommended substance. As a result, fentanyl prescriptions fell 16.9% year over year in the first year after the mandate, and the share of doctors checking administration histories for methylphenidate also rose noticeably.
Going forward, the Ministery of Food and Drug Safety plans to gradually expand the administration history check system, focusing on medical narcotics with a high risk of misuse and abuse, such as zolpidem. In consultation with the medical community, it will fine-tune the targets, timing, and methods, with the aim of creating an environment where medical narcotics can be used more safely and appropriately.
Kang Baek-won, director of narcotics safety planning at the Ministery of Food and Drug Safety, said, "This measure is intended to prevent addiction to medical narcotics stemming from taking appetite suppressants for weight loss and cosmetic purposes," adding, "While consultation times may increase somewhat at the outset, we expect voluntary participation and cooperation from medical staff to prevent misuse and abuse."