Second propofol etomidate, new drug designation
Aug 12, 2025
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The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced on the 12th that it will revise and promulgate the amendment to the 「Enforcement Decree of the Narcotics Control Act」, which focuses on such contents.
The substances designated as drugs this time are two substances, including etomidate and rembolexant, which the domestic Drug Safety Management Review Committee decided that they needed to be managed as psychotropic drugs, and five substances designated as drugs by the United Nations.
Due to illegal distribution, 'Etomidate' was designated as a drug in 2020 due to illegal distribution, etc., as social issues such as illegal administration, misuse, and abuse of propofol continued in some medical institutions. Last month, the prosecution caught nine members of the organization who illegally distributed Etomidate in Korea under the guise of exporting it overseas and sold Etomidate worth 1.07 billion won to addicts. Propofol, which was designated as a drug in 2011, has been banned from self-prescribing by doctors since February this year.
If ethomidate, called the 'second propofol', is designated as a drug, it is expected that illegal distribution and administration will be suppressed as it will be able to monitor the government in real time, and investigate and crack down on cases of misuse immediately.
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety will closely consult with drug importers to ensure that the supply of ethomidate ingredients is properly supplied to medical sites so that there is no disruption in the preparation of drug importers due to changes in management from existing drugs of concern for misuse to drugs.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
