More than 20 million South Koreans — roughly four in 10 people — were prescribed controlled drugs in 2024, a parliamentary research body said Thursday, calling for tighter monitoring of medicines with a risk of misuse or dependence.
A report by the National Assembly Research Service showed that about 20.01 million patients received such medications in 2024. Some 1.93 billion doses were dispensed through approximately 100 million prescriptions.
The category, referred to under Korean law as medical narcotics, includes narcotic and psychotropic drugs prescribed for purposes including pain relief, anesthesia, anxiety, sleep disorders and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
The large number of patients does not in itself indicate misuse. The report, however, pointed to rapid growth in prescriptions among children and teenagers, the illegal promotion of ADHD medication as a study aid, and continued violations of restrictions on remote prescribing.
The volume of controlled drugs prescribed to patients aged 19 and younger almost doubled between 2020 and 2024. Prescriptions for ADHD medication increased 139 percent over the same period, from 37.71 million doses to 90.2 million.
Many ADHD medications contain methylphenidate, a psychotropic substance controlled under the Narcotics Control Act.
Concerns have grown that some parents are seeking the medication for children without a clear medical need after it was promoted online as a “smart drug” that could improve concentration and academic performance.
Ahead of last year’s national college entrance exam, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety detected 773 online posts advertising or facilitating the illegal sale of ADHD medication.
The parliamentary report also highlighted gaps in enforcing restrictions on remote prescriptions.
Data released last year by the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service showed that medications prohibited from being prescribed through telemedicine were dispensed on 13,545 occasions between January 2023 and May 2025. Controlled drugs accounted for 11,400, or 84.2 percent, of those cases.
Nearly all the controlled-drug prescriptions involved psychotropic substances. The number of violations declined sharply after tighter rules were introduced, but prohibited prescriptions continued to occur.
The report said existing safeguards, including the Drug Utilization Review system and the Narcotics Information Management System, were not sufficient to identify and prevent questionable prescribing in real time.
“The government should not leave loopholes in the regulatory system and cursory medical consultations unaddressed or treat drug misuse solely as an individual problem,” the report said. “A fundamental overhaul is needed, including mandatory real-time monitoring of controlled drugs.”
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com
