The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) announced today, July 8, that it has referred 15 individuals from 13 universities and medical institutions to the prosecution on charges of violating the Narcotics Control Act.

Among the 13 facilities identified, three universities failed to report the purchase and usage details of anesthetics such as ketamine and the veterinary anesthetic Zoletil to the Minister of Food and Drug Safety, or reported figures that differed from actual usage amounts.

Narcotics must be reported to the Minister of Food and Drug Safety even when handled for academic research purposes.

Furthermore, six individuals, including researchers at four laboratories and pharmaceutical companies, were found to have transferred cannabis to other research institutions without approval or used narcotic raw materials arbitrarily.

In addition, it was confirmed that six medical institutions failed to comply with narcotics management obligations while purchasing and using anesthetics such as ketamine and propofol.

There were 217 instances of unreported handling, and a discrepancy of 1,494 units (20 ml per unit) was found in the inventory of propofol.

However, it was confirmed that the narcotics handled by these universities, pharmaceutical companies, and medical institutions were not illegally leaked.

An official from the MFDS emphasized, "All handlers of medical narcotics must strictly comply with management obligations, including purchase, usage, and disposal, regardless of the purpose," adding, "We will strengthen monitoring and investigations to prevent illegal leaks and misuse resulting from the poor management of medical narcotics."