Drugs intended for cancer sufferers, post-operative patients and women in childbirth were lost or stolen from Hunter hospitals in 40 incidents during the past two years.
Many of the drugs are in high demand on the black market.
But doses are considered dangerous when misused and administered without a prescription.
Medical professionals said any thefts were a criminal activity that deprived patients and cost taxpayers.
Hunter New England Local Health District said it took the losses very seriously and all reports of missing drugs were investigated.
The Newcastle Herald obtained through the Government Information Public Access Act, details of incidents that hospitals reported to the NSW Department of Health.
In the Hunter, 13 types of drugs were lost or stolen in 40 incidents between January 1, 2009, and April 1 this year.
The most commonly missing medications were powerful pain relievers such as oxycodone and morphine, cancer treatment drug fentanyl and sedative midazolam.
Reports included the theft or loss of: 200 five-milligram doses of Endone, of which opioid oxycodone hydrochloride is an active ingredient; five 10-milligram doses of morphine; and one 100-milligram/2-millilitre dose of pethidine from John Hunter Hospital on November 29 last year.
Oxycodone brands Endone, OxyContin and OxyNorm, and morphine, went missing in volumes of between 18 and 20 doses at Lake Macquarie Private, John Hunter, Maitland and Calvary Mater Newcastle hospitals several times between August 5 last year and March 1 this year.
Drug and Alcohol Research and Training Australia director Paul Dillon said hospitals were becoming increasingly aware of the potential for people to use medication inappropriately and were changing procedures.
Prescription opiates in particular were among targeted drugs.
‘‘Certainly there’s a black market there,’’ Mr Dillon said.
‘‘People can make money from on-selling them.’’
Mr Dillon said prescription opiates were highly desirable as they were seen as being of very high quality compared with variable illicit varieties, and therefore people were willing to pay more for them.
The biggest market was injecting drug users, he said.
But illicit use of prescription drugs in this manner was considered dangerous.
Australian Medical Association NSW president Michael Steiner said the number of incidents of drugs lost or stolen was small when considering the scale of hospital operations.
Nonetheless, the incidents were a concern.
‘‘It shouldn’t happen,’’ Dr Steiner said.
‘‘As far as we are concerned people who steal drugs are committing a criminal activity and should be treated accordingly.
‘‘By stealing from public hospitals they’re stealing from patients and they’re stealing from all of us, and costs go up.’’
Acute networks operations director Todd McEwan said Hunter New England Health took the loss of any drugs very seriously.
‘‘We have strict recording, storage auditing and compliance procedures in place for lost and stolen medications,’’ he said.
‘‘All reports of missing drugs are fully investigated.’’
Most investigations found that the drug loss referred to single episodes of an individual lost tablet. Reports might include broken or damaged vials or tablets, spilled liquid medication and calculation errors.
‘‘It is important to note that all investigations conducted found patient care was not jeopardised by the loss of any drugs and no patient was harmed by the loss,’’ Mr McEwan said.
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