Hospitals not following SOPs while administering intoxicant medicines

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KARACHI: A report submitted by Director Health Karachi has revealed that major private and public hospitals across the metropolis are not following standard operating procedures (SOPs) when using narcotics and intoxicant drugs.

More than 80 percent of major private and public hospitals were inspected over a span of two months for the purpose of this report and the results revealed vast loopholes in the usage of narcotics and intoxicant medicines by health experts in most of the hospitals, the report suggested.

Most doctors and paramedical staff do not know much about the code of conduct and rules of dangerous drug acts, the report stated.

Moreover, more than 60 percent of hospitals working under private authorities were found to have invalid or expired licenses which showed they were not certain about the quantity and the quality of these drugs.

The report also revealed that even after notifying the Pharmacy and Therapeutic committee there has been no action by the hospitals.

The report further states that the storage lockers for the dangerous drugs did not meet safety and cleanliness standards.

The inspection was conducted in National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, National Institute of Child Health, Tabba Heart Institute, Civil Hospital Trauma Centre, Agha Khan Hospital, South City Hospital, Sindh Government Qatar and Liaquatabad hospitals and other tertiary, secondary and primary care hospitals.

Health experts said that the narcotics and intoxicant drugs in question are used for anaesthesia and pain relief before and after surgeries.