South Korea is moving to curb misuse of medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, often mistakenly called a "study drug," ahead of the 2027 national college entrance exam. With more than 1,800 posts offering illegal sales or brokerage of the drugs detected online this year, regulators will focus their inspections on medical institutions that prescribed large volumes of ADHD medication to adolescents and will step up surveillance of illegal online distribution.
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said on the 16th that it will conduct an intensive inspection with local governments from the 19th of this month through Nov. 18 to check for misuse of methylphenidate, a drug used to treat ADHD, ahead of the exam scheduled for Nov. 19.
Methylphenidate is a psychotropic drug used to treat ADHD. It is mistakenly known in some quarters as a "study drug" that improves concentration, but using it outside approved indications can cause side effects including insomnia, reduced appetite, headaches and an elevated heart rate.
The inspection will use big data accumulated in the Narcotics Information Management System to select medical institutions visited by adolescents and others who received large volumes of ADHD prescriptions. Inspectors will focus on whether the drugs were misused through overprescribing, whether reporting requirements for handling controlled substances were met, and whether reported figures match actual inventory levels.
If the inspection turns up cases suspected of handling the drugs for purposes other than legitimate medical use, the ministry will have outside experts review whether the prescriptions were medically justified. Cases not recognized as legitimate prescriptions will be referred to investigators, while violations of reporting requirements, such as failure to report or delayed reporting, will be referred to the relevant local government for administrative action.
The ministry will also crack down on illegal online distribution. Surveillance will center on posts that target test-takers and their parents on social media and online communities, using phrases such as "study drug" or "concentration pill" to sell or broker ADHD medication illegally.
The ministry plans to immediately request that the Korea Communications Standards Commission block any posts it detects and to refer those selling or brokering the drugs to investigative authorities.
According to the ministry, routine online monitoring and two rounds of intensive monitoring conducted through September this year detected a total of 1,882 posts offering illegal sales or brokerage of ADHD medication.
Buying ADHD medication online without a doctor's prescription, or taking medication that a family member or acquaintance obtained through a prescription or purchase on one's behalf, all violate the Act on the Management of Narcotics.
The ministry said it will continue to strengthen monitoring of illegal distribution of ADHD medication around periods such as the college entrance exam, and will keep conducting targeted inspections of medical narcotics at high risk of misuse using big data from the Narcotics Information Management System.