Yoo Ah-in Booked for Alleged Use of Propofol

The police are investigating the actor, Yoo Ah-in (37, Eom Hong-sik, pictured), for the illegal use of propofol, an anesthetic used for procedural sedation. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety found that Yoo was prescribed propofol suspiciously too often and requested the investigation. The drug ministry requested a police investigation of fifty-one people, who allegedly received regular propofol injections, and Yoo was one of them.

On February 9, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced that they detected circumstances showing that Yoo received regular prescriptions of propofol from several hospitals since 2021 and asked the police to investigate the matter last year. A ministry representative explained, “We did not request an investigation of Yoo in particular. We asked the police to investigate fifty-one people suspected of receiving regular injections.”

The drug authority analyzed data from an integrated drug management system, which provides information on the hospitals that prescribe narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances and the patients who receive them, and filtered out patients who received injections too frequently. The drug ministry has a standard on the safe use of propofol--a narcotic drug used for medical purposes--that provides guidelines on the prescription period and dose. According to the standard, the ministry recommends that propofol be injected no more than once a month for simple procedures and examinations.

On Thursday, the Narcotic Crime Investigation Division of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency announced that they called Yoo in and questioned him for the alleged violation of the Narcotics Control Act on February 6.

The police began the investigation after discovering circumstances that suggested that Yoo received propofol prescriptions from hospitals for non-medical purposes. Reportedly, the police have collected Yoo’s hair sample and sent them to the National Forensic Service for tests.

Yoo’s management company, UAA, released a statement and announced, “Yoo Ah-in was recently questioned by the police concerning the use of propofol,” and added, “We are fully cooperating with the investigation and plan to faithfully explain problematic areas.”