Judgment against pharmacists for drug fraud

Two years probation for fraudulent pharmacists

12/08/2011

The Lübeck district court sentenced a pharmacist to two years' imprisonment on probation because between 2004 and 2008 he reduced his price by purchasing drugs exclusively for hospital use and subsequently reselling them at regular prices to nursing homes, prisons, medical practices and pharmaceutical wholesalers.

Over the years, the 67-year-old pharmacist had generated substantial additional revenue from the resale of the discounted drugs. Now the confessed pharmacist received the receipt for his misconduct. Because of the misappropriated use of hospital goods and commercial fraud in 446 cases, the district court of Lübeck sentenced the accused to two years imprisonment on probation. Possibly incurred financial damages can now be asserted by the persons concerned in a separate civil law procedure.

Apotheker admits selling illegal hospital goods
After the 67-year-old pharmacist had filed a confession in the morning, in which he confirmed between 2004 and 2008 about his hospital-supplying pharmacy cytostatics directly from manufacturers for the hospital supplies purchased and then subsequently resold at normal prices, the district court Lübeck condemn the accused two years probation. The Lübeck public prosecutor's office ordered a search of the pharmacy's business premises in the district of St. Lorenz Nord in Lübeck in November 2008, at the same time a clinic, a wholesaler, a health insurance fund as well as apartments in other cities had been searched, reported media from the police action. In 2010, the public prosecutor's office then filed suit against the pharmacy owner. But this was not the sole responsible and so are further proceedings against an employee of the pharmacy and two employees of the AOK Schleswig-Holstein (now AOK Northwest) and the managing director of a pharmaceutical wholesaler in the room. The employees of the health insurance have agreed with the pharmacist unjustified discounts and have threaded the supply of ambulatory doctors with the illegal hospital goods. In return, the billing costs have been reduced for example in the Zytostatikarezepturen or weekly blister in favor of the health insurance, so the charge of the prosecutor.

Millions in billing fraud
Again and again, individual doctors and pharmacists by fraudulent machinations, with which they enrich themselves at the expense of the health system. Often, the enlightenment succeeds only by accident and experts suspect a significant number of unreported cases. In addition to the accidental billing errors, so that the health insurance companies according to their own information in the settlement of medicines and medical services total million damages. As a result, successes in the form of searches, as in the case of the Lübeck pharmacist, are also an important signal in the sense of a functioning health system. (Fp)

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Picture: Siepmann H., Pixelio.de.