Ukraine has introduced a limit on the daily dose of morphine, a narcotic painkiller used for seriously ill patients.. Kropyvnytsia oncologist and author ZN reported this on his Facebook page. UA Andrey Gardashnikov.

The doctor said that he encountered a notification about the maximum daily dose of morphine of 20 tablets of 10 mg each when he created an electronic prescription in the Medical Information System (MIS).

During communication with MIS technical support specialists, they confirmed to him that the system will not allow creating an electronic prescription for a daily dose of morphine of more than 200 mg. They explained that this is a requirement of the Electronic Health System, and all questions about this should be addressed to the National Health Service of Ukraine (NSHSU).

“That is, if for a patient with an incurable disease and chronic pain, a dose of 200 mg / day is ineffective, then due to restrictions, such a patient will be “lucky” to howl in pain until he is “lucky” to die. The longer the patient’s life continues in such conditions, the worse it will be for the patient himself.. Perhaps the state will drive some patients to suicide in this way,” says Andrei Gardashnikov.

The doctor added that, according to WHO recommendations, the minimum effective dose of morphine is selected for this group of patients without limiting the maximum, focusing only on the effectiveness and individual manifestations of treatment toxicity. The possibility of prescribing a daily dose of up to 200 mg or more than 200 mg is also provided in the instructions for the drug.

Andrei Gardashnikov said that he sent a letter to the NHSU in which he called for an urgent lifting of the established restrictions.

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Last November, Gardashnikov and other Ukrainian doctors raised the alarm over a letter from the National Health Service to medical institutions, which required that no more than 50 morphine tablets be prescribed in one prescription.. According to doctors, this amount was not enough for some patients even for a week, so they had to either suffer from pain or consult a doctor for a prescription every 3-5 days. And in some cases, since there is only one pharmacy licensed for narcotic drugs in several communities, you have to travel with a prescription to the nearest 20-40 kilometers.

After the publicity, the NHSU asked that the letter be considered invalid and apologized to patients.

According to the Prescription Rules, patients receiving palliative care can be provided with narcotic drugs in volumes not exceeding the 30-day requirement.

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