The Directorate of Health has launched investigations into the prescription practices of about 20 doctors, primarily concerning addictive and narcotic drugs. This number represents a significant increase in such investigations compared to the past four years, reports Morgunblaðið.
Each of these cases focuses on an individual doctor’s prescribing behaviour, with the investigations initiated following numerous tips received by the Directorate. Reports have come from various sources, including pharmacies, health professionals, insurance companies and the Icelandic Medicines Agency.
The Directorate of Health has confirmed that all 20 doctors under scrutiny have been notified via letter and given the opportunity to respond to the allegations. Officials emphasise that having this many doctors simultaneously under investigation is unusual and concerning.
The Directorate indicates that severe penalties such as license revocations are unlikely. Instead, warnings are expected to be the more probable outcome for most of these cases.
According to a response to Morgunblaðið’s inquiry to the Directorate of Health, only three doctors have had their licenses revoked in the years 2020-2024. The Directorate does not disclose the reasons for the revocations due to the small number of cases involved.
However, it has been reported that one of these cases involves a doctor who prescribed medications to a deceased woman for about a decade. Another concerns a doctor who was believed to have perform unnecessary procedures on children. During the same period, 2020-2024, nine doctors were issued warnings, while 43 received formal recommendations from the Directorate. Of these, 14 received recommendations regarding drug prescriptions.
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