Cancer drugs cheaply sold to doctors?

Suspected fraud: AOK pharmacist consultants have to answer before the district court Lübeck

29/04/2012

Two employees of the AOK Northwest currently have to answer before the district court Lübeck. They are accused by the prosecutor of having cheated pharmaceutical manufacturers of cancer drugs by about 500,000 euros. Specifically, according to accusations, the defendants pharmacists of the Merkur pharmacy in 2004 and 2006 have asked to sell cancer drugs to ambulatory practitioners at the discounted price of the clinics. Hospitals have to pay less for medicines than is normally the case in the pharmacy trade. The trial is linked to another, larger fraud case.

Assistance with systematic fraud?
The public prosecutor Lübeck speaks in this context of a „systematic fraud“, in which the two accused counseling pharmacists of the AOK Northwest are said to have participated. According to the indictment, they are said to have exploited the statutory price difference between clinic prices and pharmacy goods in at least 479 cases. The trial is in the context of a larger trial of additional accused persons. This resulted in a total loss of around 2.5 million euros. In addition to around 400 ambulant medical practices based in Schleswig-Holstein, prisons and dialysis centers are said to have received medicines at lower prices (judgment against pharmacists for drug fraud).

The Merkur pharmacy was approved as a supplier for clinics and was therefore able to obtain the cheaper drugs from the manufacturers. About ten pharmaceutical producers were thus incurred property damage of about half a million euros.

Both pharmacists of the Merkur pharmacy were already legally convicted on account of fraud to the disadvantage of the pharmaceutical manufacturers. In the course of the proceedings, one of the then defendants had declared that two advisers of the then AOK Schleswig-Holstein (after the merger AOK Northwest) had participated in the fraud, as the fund announced.

Health insurance is behind the employees
The health insurance company rejects the allegations of the prosecutor vehemently. Finally, the public prosecutor Lübeck, the claim of the convicted „and accused the accused counseling pharmacists“. Rather, the cashier „convinced that the AOK counseling pharmacists are innocent.“ Therefore, the defense pleads "non-guilty".

The health insurance itself had carried out an internal review. No evidence of such misconduct was evident. „In addition, we do not recognize any improper enrichment of the AOK Northwest by the actions of our employees, "said a spokesman.

Defendants have demonstrably not enriched
According to the news agency „dpa“ Both AOK employees in court had justified the argument that in Germany „complicated pricing system for drugs“ prevails. They would not have known about the fraud by the convicts. The fact that they had personally enriched, the prosecutor could not prove. Therefore, they are not accused of this point. The defense also argued, both „have demonstrably not enriched“. (Sb)

Also read:
Millions of fraud with HIV drugs
Greater dimensions in the fraud with cancer drugs?
AOK checks thousandfold recipe fraud

Image: Benjamin Klack