[Anchor]
A group of 14 people has been rounded up en masse for illegally administering medical narcotics. It was the doctors who fraudulently prescribed narcotics at the hospital and even administered them. It was revealed that one of the doctors even illegally filmed a woman who fell asleep after administration.
Reporting by Cho Min-ki.
[Reporter]
Police officers enter a hospital in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul, present a search and seizure warrant, and thoroughly search even the trunk and inside doors of a doctor's vehicle.
Fourteen individuals, including doctors, the head of administration, and recipients, at the hospital were apprehended by police on charges of illegally administering medical narcotics.
Two arrested doctors are accused of illegally administering medical narcotics, such as propofol and ketamine, 182 times over a two-year period starting in 2021.
It was found that they prescribed these substances under the guise of cosmetic procedures to recipients visiting the hospital, charging prices reaching about 32 times the original cost.
The illegal administrations mainly took place in single rooms during late hours after hospital operation times or on holidays when the hospital was closed. It was also revealed that one of the arrested doctors illegally filmed a recipient who had fallen asleep under the influence of the drugs 27 times, leading to his recent arrest.
Among the illegal recipients, there were cases where someone paid 13.5 million won in a single day, or paid approximately 250 million won across 64 occasions over 11 months.
Police stated that the criminal proceeds earned by the doctors amount to 457 million won.
[Kang Seon-bong / Head of Narcotics Crime Investigation Unit 1, Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency: To evade the narcotics surveillance network and maintain the recipients' sleep state for long periods, they concurrently administered dexmedetomidine and etomidate, which are sleep anesthetics, along with existing narcotics.]
Police forwarded the 14 apprehended suspects to the prosecution and requested the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety to review the designation of dexmedetomidine as a narcotic, in addition to etomidate, which was already designated as a narcotic last February.
(Video by Bae Moon-san and Lee Sang-hak | Video Editing by Lee Hong-myeong | Design by Han Heung-soo)
※
Copying, redistribution, and unauthorized use in AI training are strictly prohibited.