Psychiatrist in UAE arrested for prescribing psychotropic drugs to youth

Abu Dhabi - His licence has been revoked by MoHAP.

The Ministry of Health and Prevention, MoHAP, has revoked the license of a psychiatrist in UAE and removed his credentials from the medical registry of the country for contravening the ethics and laws of the medical professions.
This came after the Sharjah Police's Department of Narcotics Control had arrested the person inciting young people to take controlled medicines and psychotropic drugs without having any medical conditions related to such types of medicines.
How he was caught
In a statement issued on Saturday, the Ministry revealed on how the psychiatrist was caught. The Department of Narcotics Control at Sharjah Police reported that several young people aged 20 to 30 years were frequently visiting a psychiatric clinic in Sharjah.
A team from MoHAP and Sharjah Police was formed to investigate the incident. In the meantime, MoHAP dispatched a person to the clinic, who asked the doctor to prescribe psychotropic drugs. The doctor accepted the request and prescribed the drugs.
This was conclusive evidence that the said doctor didn't clinically diagnose with the patient to make sure that he needs such drugs or not.
Stringent laws and legislations
MoHAP has been keen to develop laws that regulate the practice of medical professions. The ministry has established specific mechanisms for control and inspection of private health facilities to make sure that they abide by the common medical ethics and rules at the local and international levels, as well as their compliance with the state-related health laws and regulations.
The Ministry underlined that those who breach such rules and regulations will be subject to severe penalties in order to protect and the health and rights of patients, pointing that prescribing such medicines carelessly and without medical reasons is a crime against youth as it leads to addiction.
MoHAP's assured its commitment to cooperate with its strategic partners to spot these malpractices which infringe the ethics and laws of medicine profession.
In this framework, MoHAP warns the public against circulating any false information which is not officially issued by the ministry or other health authorities and urges the individuals to report any medical malpractices or those who take psychotropic drugs by calling the toll free number 80011111 or via email: tawasol@moh.gov.ae, or contacting other government health authorities or police stations.

• Abu Dhabi
• Sharjah