Prosecutors caught a doctor who repeatedly administered propofol about 1,000 times under the pretense of cosmetic procedures and a doctor who illegally prescribed about 20,000 tablets of narcotic medicines.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office's Violent Crime Investigation Division (Director General Lee Tae-soon) on the 28th released the "2025 results of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office crackdown on medical narcotics crimes." Prosecutors said that after the misuse of medical narcotics and the resulting secondary crimes emerged as a social problem, they formed a specialized medical narcotics investigation team in Feb. last year and have carried out an intensive crackdown.
Prosecutors said they booked a total of 41 people this year, indicting six in custody and 18 without detention. They said 13 people deemed capable of returning to society received suspended indictments, and four were placed on suspended indictment status.
Prosecutors cited Doctor A as a key case. From Mar. 2021 for three years, A was indicted and detained on charges of administering propofol 989 times to 62 addicts for non-treatment purposes and pocketing criminal proceeds worth 800 million won, prosecutors said. Prosecutors said some addicts who were dosed at A's hospital suffered deteriorating mental health, while other addicts experienced complications or lost their assets by buying narcotics.
Doctor B was indicted without detention on charges of illegally prescribing about 20,000 tablets, including ADHD medications, sleeping pills, and diet drugs, over roughly six years since 2018. Prosecutors said users who repeatedly purchased drugs under borrowed identities were also brought to trial.
Doctor C, who runs a plastic surgery clinic, was indicted without detention on charges of administering propofol 75 times to 10 addicts after receiving 500 million won, falsifying medical records, and raping a female victim who had lost consciousness. Prosecutors said they also confirmed indications that C received cash as payment for doses or multiple luxury handbags.
Prosecutors said they also uncovered an illegal distribution case involving etomidate, known as the "second propofol." They said the top supplier, who as the head of a pharmaceutical wholesale firm sold etomidate, and mid-level suppliers, who resold it to addicts leading to administration and pocketed about 1 billion won, were booked.
Prosecutors said that since last month they expanded and reorganized the specialized medical narcotics investigation team from one team to two to strengthen their response capacity. Prosecutors said, "We will continue to sternly crack down on illegal distribution of medical narcotics and support users' normal return to society."