Reproductive medicine must be in custody for five years

Charge for breach of the Embryo Protection Act and tax evasion
A Reproduction Specialist from Upper Franconia has been sentenced to five years' imprisonment for several offenses. Among other things, the physician had set up an "egg bank" in his clinic, thus violating the Embryo Protection and Transplantation Act. In addition, he is said to have evaded more than one million euros in taxes and also have his employees involved in his criminal activities.

Doctor builds up an "egg bank" in his clinic
Hof on Tuesday sentenced a 57-year-old physician to five years in prison without parole. As the news agency "dpa" reported, the Chamber saw it as proven that Stefan T. has used as part of a "fertility treatment" women, the ova of foreign women. While so-called "egg donation" is considered ethically unobjectionable in countries such as Belgium, Spain and France, it is banned in Germany by the Embryo Protection Act (ESchG).

Because of his misconduct, the reproductive medicine has to go to jail. (Image: Thomas Jansa / fotolia.com)

Since the trade in tissue is also prohibited, the Bayreuth physician has also violated the Transplantation Act (TPG) through his "business" with the ova. As the presiding judge Siegbert Übelmesser said, the accused had wanted to secure a further source of income in this way - and even set up a kind of "egg bank" in the premises of his clinic.

Employees had to fake surgical reports
In addition, the man evaded more than one million euros in taxes and also bills for the Kassenärztliche Vereinigung not performed correctly. The court assumes that from 2007 to 2012 it has cheated both in the taxation of cash income and capital gains on assets abroad, reports the "dpa" on. In addition, the physician had also involved his employees in the criminal activities by OP reporting for billing fraud should have been faked.

Prosecution demands life-long ban as a "fertility doctor"
The prosecution had demanded eight and a half years in prison, but the court saw it as mitigating that the defendant had admitted the allegations, so evil knives. In addition, his motivation to help childless couples understandable. At the same time, however, he had been out for profit and committed many crimes for years. In addition to his prison sentence, the doctor was banned from work for three years - the prosecution had demanded a five-year ban as a doctor, and a life-long ban as a reproductive medicine.

"Thus, the defendant's future is not obstructed, and in the future the decision of the Kassenärztliche Vereinigung pending, which ultimately has to decide whether after the end of the occupational ban here again admission as a contract doctor granted or not," said the spokesman for the Court of Justice , Andreas Cantzler, in a conversation with the station "tvo". (No)