New law against corrupt doctors decided - even prison possible

Stricter sanctions against corruption in healthcare adopted
After the Bundestag, the Federal Council has now passed a law against corruption in health care. Doctors face bribery in the future not only a fine, but possibly also a prison.

Law against corruption in health care
Doctors who get bribed will face severe penalties in the future. The Federal Council has now approved the law against corruption in health care adopted by the Bundestag in April. A statement states: "On 13 May 2016, the Federal Council gave the go-ahead for the introduction of two new offenses. Doctors or other health care professionals who seek to prescribe the prescribed prescriptions of certain medicines, remedies or remedies will face up to three years in prison. "

After the Bundestag, the Federal Council has now approved a law that addresses corruption in health care. Corrupt doctors then face several years in prison. (Image: Bits and Splits / fotolia.com)

Maximum penalty of five years
It is also reported: "In particularly severe cases, a maximum sentence of five years is provided. The same penalties threaten pharmaceutical representatives, who promise physicians something in return for preferring their medicines. "According to experts, the new draft closes a legal loophole that the Federal Court of Justice had already criticized years ago. With the previous regulations, doctors in private practice could not be prosecuted for corruption. But not all are satisfied with the planned innovations: The statutory health insurance believe that some regulations have been weakened in the government bill.

Fraud of pharmacists and in the care
Corruption and fraud in healthcare are truly not new. In the past, there were in particular indications of billing fraud in so-called remedies such as physiotherapy, physiotherapy or massages. For example, billions of dollars worth of bill-fee accounting fraud have recently been reported. And a few days ago it became known that prosecutors in several federal states because of millions of frauds of pharmacists determine. According to media reports, the health insurance companies are cheated on so-called "air prescriptions" in the millions. The organization Transparency Deutschland estimates the damage caused by fraud and corruption with pharmaceuticals at a total of 680 million to 2.72 billion euros per year. (Ad)