By Lee Kyung-min
A dozen people were indicted over their involvement in the illegal use of intravenous injections of propofol, a sleep inducer used for surgery or medical procedures, prosecutors said Sunday.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office arrested and indicted a plastic surgeon in Gangnam, southern Seoul, surnamed Hong, for allegedly administering 21,905 milliliters of propofol to 10 people on 247 occasions between April and June. He received 550 million won ($530,000) as payment.
Two medical staffers at his clinic were also indicted without detention.
Prosecutors said the amount of propofol Hong injected and the compensation amount he was paid for it at his clinic were the largest since 2011 when propofol was designated as a narcotic.
Prosecutors said Hong charged 500,000 won per 20-milliliter ampoule of propofol, 170 times the original price. He also did not heed dosage restrictions, which is highly dangerous given that 61 people have died due to propofol overdose between 2010 and last year.
It is alleged that Hong and his staffers falsified records of the propofol use on the patient treatment logs to give the injection to anybody who paid for it, without a specific medical purpose.
Prosecutors said a sex worker spent 115 million won over three months at Hong's clinic. The worker was among seven people who were indicted without detention for habitual propofol use.
In a separate case, a person surnamed Jang, 32, was arrested for allegedly receiving 10,335 milliliters of propofol injections on 81 occasions between March and August. Jang spent nearly 200 million won in the process.
Jang visited multiple clinics in Gangnam to get the injections and he also bought about half of the propofol from a former hospital salesperson, surnamed Shin, who provided and administered the narcotics to Jang at hotels, prosecutors said. Shin was also arrested.
The prosecution will expand the investigation to other clinics, suspecting more cases exist.
Those who buy or sell narcotics without a doctor's prescription or use them for non-medical purposes are subject to up to five years in prison or up to 5 million won in fines.