The Health Bureau (SSM) has received a report from the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre that 480 tablets in four boxes of a psychiatric drug have gone missing, the bureau said in a statement yesterday.
According to the report, the public hospital arranged for a patient to pick up the anti-depressant medication at the Tap Seac Health Centre on February 17. However, the drug had gone missing, the statement said.
The statement did not clarify who discovered that the drugs had disappeared, or how he or she discovered that they had vanished.
The statement identified the missing drug as “Xanax 0.5mg”, a prescription drug under additional special restrictions.
According to Wikipedia, alprazolam, sold under the trade name Xanax, among others, is a short-acting benzodiazepine. It is most commonly used in short-term management of anxiety disorders, specifically panic disorder or generalised anxiety disorder (GAD). Other uses include the treatment of chemotherapy-induced nausea, together with other treatments. GAD improvement occurs generally within a week.
Taken incorrectly Xanax can be addictive, the Wikipedia article points out.
According to the Drugs.com website, Xanax “may be habit-forming,” warning that the “misuse of habit-forming medicine can cause addiction, overdose, or death.”
According to the statement, the public hospital is carrying out a comprehensive investigation into the case.
In order to ensure citizens’ safe use of drugs, the statement urged patients who picked up drugs prescribed the public hospital on February 17 to check their prescriptions and their drugs, the statement said.
Anyone finding out that there was a mismatch between their prescriptions and the drugs is urged to immediately call the hospital on 83908785.
This undated handout photo from the Health Bureau (SSM) shows a box of “Xanax 0.5mg” anti-depressant medication.
