A HOSPITAL in Futian District will stop giving adult patients intravenous (IV) infusions at its outpatient departments starting next month, the Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported Thursday.

    Futian District People’s Hospital will implement its new policy next month, requiring doctors to give patients pills or injections rather than IV drips if possible. The hospital’s oral medicine meets clinical requirements, and patients who need to receive IV treatment will be transferred to the hospital’s emergency department.

    Doctors who break the rule more than three times will have their prescription rights suspended for a month, according to the hospital’s new policy.

    The University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Hospital was the first hospital in Shenzhen that refused to offer IV drip treatment to outpatients. The hospital’s use of antibiotics is about half of other major public hospitals in Shenzhen, according to a Shenzhen Daily report.

    Bao’an District People’s Hospital and its four community clinics in Bao’an District have also halted IV services beginning in early April.

    Heavy use of IV drips have caused health problems and stoked fears about the rise of drug-resistant superbugs. Up to 57 percent of people suffer side effects from IV drips, with some patients dying, the Bao’an hospital cited a 2012 national medical report as saying.

    China has long been known for overusing medicine through IV drips, mostly antibiotics and often for minor ailments.

    Crowds of people on IV drips are a common sight in clinics across the country, especially in winter.

    China’s per capita consumption of antibiotics, commonly given by IV rather than the cheaper method of pills or injections, is 10 times higher than the world average, previous media reports said.

    (Zhang Yang)