NEARLY 400 doses of sedative drugs — pethidine and morphine — were stolen from the United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH) on Monday, a development that has forced patients to source their own.
Both drugs are classified as dangerous and every dose
should be signed for by a registered medical practitioner before being
administered as continued use can lead to an addiction.
Thieves who broke into the pharmacy in what could be an
inside job, also got away with records where practitioners account for use of
pethidine.
In a seemingly well-choregraphed operation, the thieves
first disabled CCTV cameras before breaking in and the theft was discovered on
Monday. They also stole a laptop and a Microsoft tablet from the UBH pharmacy.
Pethidine is a pain-relieving drug that has a feel-good
effect. It is used in emergency departments and post-surgery stages of health
care.
Side effects include respiratory depression, drowsiness,
sedation, mood changes, euphoria, dysphoria, mental clouding, nausea, vomiting
and electroencephalographic changes.
Large doses of pethidine may cause excitation and
convulsions. Morphine is a strong painkiller used to treat severe pain, for
example after an operation or a serious injury, or pain from cancer or a heart
attack.
Side effects include drowsiness, stomach pain and cramps,
dry mouth, headache, nervousness, mood changes, small pupils (black circles in
the middle of the eyes) and sometimes difficulty urinating or pain when
urinating.
Bulawayo police provincial spokesperson Inspector Abednico
Ncube confirmed the incident yesterday and said investigations were in
progress.
“I confirm we received a report of theft of an HP monitor
and CPU, one laptop and a Microsoft tablet at UBH. Some days later the same
informant reported that about 370 doses of morphine drugs were stolen.
Investigations are in progress,” said Insp Ncube.
UBH chief executive officer Dr Narcissus Dzvanga confirmed
the incident and said police were investigating.
A UBH staffer who spoke on condition of anonymity said the
suspects destroyed the surveillance cameras before grabbing the stash.
“More than 300 doses of pethidine were stolen from the
hospital pharmacy on Monday. The hospital cannot function properly without the
drug because the drug is the one which is used to condense pain on patients in
place of morphine,” she said.
“It’s not understandable how thieves could break into the
pharmacy and steal without being noticed when it is just adjacent to the
hospital. It is clear that it’s an inside job.”
“The number of thefts in the hospital are concerning. Last
year seven plasma television sets that were mounted at the health facility’s
private ward were stolen again. No one could understand how they managed to do
that when there is security manning all entrances and exits,” said the staffer.
The source said there was more to the incidents “which
should be unearthed through investigation.”
A local physician Dr Tatenda Simango said pethidine is a
dangerous drug that is kept locked in hospitals as its use is regulated by the
Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe.
“So, we monitor it as it has addictive elements and once
one gets addicted, they cannot live without it. It’s called a dangerous drug
hence pethidine is locked away and whoever takes it should sign for it as it is
highly monitored,” said Dr Simango.
“It is strongly controlled by the Medicines Control of
Zimbabwe. It is very cheap. It’s not more than $5, very affordable but for one
to use it they need details of the prescribing practitioner including his phone
number and signature.”
He said people often abuse pethidine for its feel-good
effect although it should not be used continuously.
“People should know that despite the feel-good effect,
pethidine does slow down heart rate and can lead to diverse effects if one uses
it continuously,” he added. Chronicle
0 comments:
Post a Comment