More than 150 deans and secretaries have been investigated this year! Concentrated nationwide crackdown on corruption in the field of pharmaceutical procurement and sales, finance and economics | Ministry | Procurement and sales
Since the beginning of this year, the medical field has become a key area for anti-corruption. According to incomplete statistics from Cyberland, at least 155 hospital deans and secretaries have been investigated nationwide so far this year, exceeding twice the number of hospitals in the whole of last year.
In addition to the deans and secretaries who fell from grace, there were also numerous department directors who were investigated. On May 31st of this year, the website of the Shanxi Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision announced that Xu Bo, the director of the Interventional Catheter Room at Fuwai Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, is suspected of serious violations of discipline and law and is currently undergoing disciplinary review by the Discipline Inspection and Supervision Group of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission stationed at the National Health Commission and investigation by the Changzhi Municipal Supervisory Commission.
As of the time of publication, no results have been released regarding Xu Bo's investigation. In the second half of the year, the wave of medical anti-corruption is still sweeping across the country.
Recently, hospitals in Guangdong, Guangxi and other regions have issued relevant documents internally to strengthen medical anti-corruption self-examination efforts. The reporter from First Financial News learned that these documents are in line with the specific implementation of the "2023 Key Points for Correcting Unhealthy Practices in the Field of Pharmaceutical Purchasing and Sales and Medical Services" jointly released by the 14 national ministries and commissions in May this year.
The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat sen University recently issued a special campaign plan for correcting misconduct in the field of pharmaceutical purchasing and sales and medical services in 2023. "The document is basically consistent with the documents of the 14 ministries and commissions of the country, and the original intention of the country is to regulate the industry," said a relevant person to a reporter from First Financial News
Last month, the Health Commission of Liaoning Province and 13 other departments jointly issued the "Key Points for Correcting Unhealthy Practices in the Field of Pharmaceutical Purchasing and Sales and Medical Services in Liaoning Province in 2023", requiring the improvement of the professional ethics governance system and focusing on addressing prominent corruption issues in the pharmaceutical industry. According to the requirements, Liaoning Province will carry out a special campaign to crack down on fraud and insurance fraud in the field of medical insurance, focusing on key departments such as orthopedics, blood purification, and cardiovascular medicine, as well as key areas of drugs and consumables. Key behaviors such as false medical treatment and drug reselling in medical insurance will be targeted for rectification, and the evaluation of medical prices and procurement credit will be effectively promoted.
The reporter from China Business News learned that with the past of the COVID-19 epidemic, academic activities in the medical field have recovered strongly this year. It is a common practice in the industry to invite experts to give lectures for academic exchanges, impart knowledge, and pay a certain amount of labor remuneration.
"Normal academic conferences are a necessary activity to promote academic cooperation and exchange, as long as they comply with regulations," a person from a tertiary hospital in the southern region told a reporter from First Financial News. "Currently, I haven't heard of any conferences being cancelled due to the introduction of new documents, and our hospital's own academic conferences are also held normally."
In addition, in response to the recent rumored implementation plan of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region People's Hospital to carry out a special clearance work for unreasonable remuneration, relevant lawyers told First Financial reporters, "From the perspective of labor remuneration, how to judge whether it is reasonable? If it is for labor, receiving corresponding remuneration is reasonable and legal; but if it is under the guise of academic lectures and accepting unfair benefits from pharmaceutical enterprises, it is definitely unreasonable and legal. The country is clearly cracking down on the latter."
The above-mentioned lawyer also stated that the key issue is not the form of issuing documents requiring the refund of teaching fees, but mainly how to establish a long-term mechanism to prevent medical corruption, and avoid such improper transfer of benefits through a virtuous cycle system.
Since the beginning of this year, academic conferences in the medical field have indeed experienced explosive growth. According to a spokesperson from a certain company, they have received sponsorship invitations for 5 to 6 conferences almost every week. "Sponsorship has reached the point of madness, and participating in it all is definitely unbearable," he told a reporter from First Financial News.
Taking an academic conference held in a certain location in September this year as an example, sponsorship fees for enterprises range from 50000 to 1.2 million yuan, and sponsorship fees for satellite conferences range from 100000 to 250000 yuan.
Although sponsorship is a voluntary act of the enterprise, some companies have also stated that if they receive an invitation from a hospital to sponsor an event, it is usually difficult for the enterprise to refuse due to emotional reasons, and they will usually support it.
