PROVEN ADDICTS MAY NOT BE PRESCRIBED NARCOTIC DRUGS

NARCOTIC drugs may not be prescribed to any patient who is a proven
drug addict, deputy head of the Anesthesia Department and head of
Pain Clinic at the Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), Dr Fadhil Abbas
al- Jalabi, has said.

Speaking to a local Arabic daily in the context of three doctors
working for elite private hospitals having been referred to the
Criminal Court on "drug abuse" charges, he said medical procedures
must be observed while prescribing narcotic drugs.

"Such drugs should be prescribed only in cases of extreme pain
following surgeries and this cannot be continued for more than one
week. In case the condition of the patient required continued
administration of the drugs, the type of the drug shall be replaced."

Dr al-Jalabi pointed out that only cancer patients are allowed to
take such drugs on a continuous basis, irrespective of being an
addict or not since the main objective in treating many of the cancer
cases is to alleviate pain.

Anesthesia consultant in Doha Clinic Hospital, Dr Ahmad Khattab said
doctors can find out whether his patient is a drug addict or not by
noting the patient's frequent visits to the doctor complaining of
pain which has no clinical evidence.

According to legal expert Advocate Yusuf al-Zaman, Article 36 of the
anti-drugs and intoxicant law says that any doctor who prescribes
narcotic or psychotropic drugs for unwarranted purposes is punishable
with imprisonment up to 10 years and not less than 5 years and a
minimum fine of QR100,000 that could go up to QR200,000.

Arabic daily Arrayah quoted the lawyer as saying that any one who
helps in the act by being a willing accomplice is punishable by the
same penalties.

The prescription of narcotic and psychotropic drugs in hospitals and
clinics is also regulated by a decision issued by the Ministry of Health.

According to the decision, certified doctors working for private
clinics are entitled to keep narcotic drugs in their clinics for
treatment purposes on the condition that they keep them in a safe
place to be prescribed only under the supervision of a specialist doctor.

"The pharmacist may not dispense any of these drugs without a
prescription by a certified doctor. And the drugs prescribed by the
doctors should not be for a period exceeding 10 days. The pharmacies
may refuse to issue such drugs after five days of its endorsement by
the doctor. These materials should not be conceded to others under
any circumstance."

About the criminal responsibility of doctors prescribing drugs with
no proper medical intention, al-Zaman said that doctors in such cases
are subject to the law of narcotics, just like the common people.

Local doctors also have raised alarms about the reckless usage of
narcotic drugs saying that the abuse of such drugs for longer periods
could result in addiction.