Seoul nursing home staff referred to prosecutors for giving patients unprescribed psychotropic drugs — including medication taken from the dead

By Jung Joo-won, The Herald Business

Staff at a Seoul nursing home have been referred to prosecutors after repeatedly administering psychotropic drugs to patients without a doctor's prescription and failing to document the administrations.

The Seoul Jongam Police Station said Monday it had sent 20 people to prosecutors on charges of violating the Narcotics Control Act and the Medical Service Act. Those referred include the hospital director, a night-duty physician, the head of nursing, a charge nurse, nurses and nursing assistants.

The investigation found that the facility had stockpiled psychotropic drugs — including medication brought in by patients and leftover drugs from deceased patients — rather than returning or disposing of them through proper channels, then administered those drugs to patients without authorization.

The suspects are accused of giving patients the drugs without a doctor's diagnosis or prescription when patients would not sleep or were shouting. The charge nurse is alleged to have supplied psychotropic drugs and other medications to nurses and nursing assistants and directed them to administer the drugs to patients, resulting in their continued use on inpatients.

Police also confirmed that the hospital director and the head of nursing had ordered staff to keep psychotropic drugs on the ward in preparation for quality assessments by the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, and to omit any record of the actual administrations from medical charts and nursing logs.

The investigation began after police received a tip about the illegal use of psychotropic drugs inside a medical institution. Officers carried out searches and seizures at the hospital and the residences of those involved, interviewed staff and analyzed medical records and electronic data to establish the full scope of the offenses.

"Using psychotropic or prescription drugs to control patient behavior without a doctor's diagnosis or prescription can pose a serious threat to patients' health and safety," said Oh Hun, chief of the Seoul Jongam Police Station. "We will continue to rigorously investigate medical crimes that threaten the lives and safety of the public."