Prescriptions to be tightly controlled
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Doctors required to record every patient's name, inventory details
The Public Health Ministry will be strictly controlling the prescription of pseudoephedrinebased tablets at all its hospitals across the country.
Doctors have to record the patient’s name and an inventory report every time they prescribe these pills, the ministry’s permanent secretary Dr Paijit Warachit said.
The ministry had initially banned the prescription of pseudoephedrinebased tablets after discovering that millions of these pills had disappeared from various hospitals over recent years.
Then on Wednesday, the ministry decided to list pseudoephedrine pills as type 2 psychotropic substances, which need to be strictly controlled by the Food and Drug Administration. Now the ministry is planning to lift the ban, allowing doctors to prescribe the drug more cautiously.
As for concerns about there being a shortage of medication for the common cold, Paijit said the symptoms could also be treated with other pills that do not contain pseudoephedrine.
In a related development, the ministry's inspector Dr Surachet Satitniramai said the director and chief pharmacist at a hospital in Udon Thani were not involved in the disappearance of pseudoephedrinebased tablets.
“They were just ignorant about having to control the purchase of these pills,” he said, adding that a panel had been set up to come up with disciplinary measures.
However, the ministry is still waiting for an investigation report on a pharmacist at the Udon Thani hospital, who is believed to be involved in the disappearance of the pills.
In relation to the investigation into the Nong Ki Hospital in Buri Ram, Surachet said the ministry found no irregularities.
“Instead we found that a pharmacist was falsely using the hospital’s name to purchase the drugs,” he said.
The ministry has temporarily moved this pharmacist to the Buri Ram public health office as it waits for the committee to come up with appropriate punishment.
Meanwhile, the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) is also looking into the disappearance of millions of cold pills.
DSI staff yesterday looked into disappearances reported at a private hospital and four other clinics in Chiang Mai.
Initial investigation showed that a staff member of the private hospital had faked the director’s signature to order more than 200,000 since 2010. It is believed the person was supplying the pills to drug dealers in a neighbouring country.
