Kuwait keeps tight control on drug trade and dealings

KUWAIT: Kuwaiti authorities maintain tight control over prescriptions and trade in drugs particularly stimulating medicines. Dr Mariam Al-Yassin, the director of medicines inspection at the Ministry of Health (MoH), said in a statement to KUNA that preserving safety and effectiveness of the medical products is ensured by the health system for patients’ safety and holding offenders at health facilities and pharmacies.

She said up to 2,804 penalties were issued against private pharmacies between January and November 2022.  Most of the cases involved insufficient data in medical prescription papers, unsafe storage and expiry of the pharmacist practice permit. Dr. Al-Yassin indicated at the prime role of the supervision division for medicines and mental drugs’ permits that keeps inventories and other detailed information about the stored medicines, namely the stimulating drugs.

The division along with other relevant units follow up on the chain that begins with importation and ends with distribution to the local market; according to laws 48/1887 and 74/1983 that covers regulations for mental drugs trade and prescriptions. Assigned inspectors, once the products are taken out of depots, examine standard compatibility with reference to the MoH records.

An offense is reported to the undersecretary of the medicines supervision division, pending referral to the public prosecution. Dr Al-Yassin revealed that there were 4,043 offenses in the private medical sector between 2020 and November 2022, compared with 1,134 ones in 2020. She added that between 2020 and November 2022, penalties in the public sector reached 343. Last year, there were 80 irregularities, including 20 cases of mishandling of the stimulating drugs in the public sector. – KUNA

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