A nurse aide has been apprehended by police for retrieving and self-administering propofol from a medical waste bin at a dermatology clinic in Gangnam, Seoul.

The Seoul Gangnam Police Station is currently investigating a woman in her 20s, identified as A, who was arrested in the act on charges of violating the Narcotics Control Act.

A is accused of collecting discarded syringes from the medical waste container at the dermatology clinic where she worked on July 2. She allegedly transferred the remaining propofol from those syringes into a new one to inject herself.

Propofol, a sedative used for anesthesia, is designated as a medical narcotic by the government due to high concerns regarding its potential for abuse.

The investigation revealed that A committed the act on her very first day of work at the clinic.

Police have booked A without detention and are investigating the exact circumstances of the incident, while also looking into whether she has a history of habitual propofol use.

The prescription of medical narcotics in South Korea continues to rise.

According to recent statistics from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and the Korea Institute of Drug Safety and Risk Management, the total number of patients who were prescribed medical narcotics at least once last year reached 20.2 million.

This means approximately four out of every 10 South Koreans were prescribed narcotic medications.

Among these, patients administered anesthetics, including propofol, were the largest group at 12.62 million, while 9.72 million patients were prescribed hypnotic sedatives such as midazolam or zolpidem.

As the handling of narcotics in medical settings increases, there is a growing call for a thorough review of the narcotics management system, including the procedures for disposing of residual medication.

Reported by Lee Hyeon-yeong | Video by Choi Gang-san | Graphics by Lee Jeong-ju | Produced by SBS Digital News