薬理と治療

Abstract

Objectives　In recent years, as health insurance pharmacies have had an increased number of opportunities to handle narcotic prescriptions, a smooth system for supplying medical narcotics is required. However, there have been economic problems due to immobile narcotic stocks and disposal of narcotics. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the actual status of narcotics in health insurance pharmacies and examined the related medical economic problems and their factors. Methods　In 2017, we investigated the narcotic stock situation in 97 health insurance pharmacies have narcotic retailer licenses. Results　The narcotic immobile inventory amounted to 5,983,026 yen in 79 stores, and the disposed inventory amounted to 3,121,705 yen in 62 stores. Upon adding these inventory management losses to each pharmacyʼs narcotic prescription balance, 93 stores recorded a negative balance. There were many high-dose standards in the immobile stocks, mainly due to changes in prescription and hospitalization or death of patients. On the other hand, many disposed items were rescue drugs. Conclusions　This study revealed that narcotic inventory management in health insurance pharmacies led to medical economic losses under the current system, suggesting issues to be addressed for the rationalization of drug distribution.