A 25-miligram bottle of muscle relaxant, equivalent to 1½ times the lethal dose for an adult, has been reported missing from a hospital in the city of Osaka.
Osaka City General Hospital has reported the case to police and is also considering submitting a report of theft, it said on Sunday.
According to the Osaka City Hospital Organization — the hospital's operator — the drug was discovered missing at around 10 a.m. Friday when hospital officials were performing a routine check of a safe that stores pharmaceuticals.
After failing to locate the muscle relaxant, the officials reported the case to police at 2 p.m. Saturday.
The hospital said that a pharmacist had prepared three 50-mg bottles of the drug along with a 25-mg bottle of it on Wednesday.
One of the 50-mg bottles was used in an operation that began at 8 a.m. the following day. An anesthesiologist who took out the 50-mg bottle from the safe did not verify the number of bottles, and it is unclear when the 25-mg bottle went missing.
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