More than a hundred hospital deans and secretaries have fallen from grace! More Upgrades in Medical Anti Corruption | Storm | Secretary
More than a hundred hospital deans and secretaries were investigated, and a device was eaten by the deans with 16 million kickbacks... A pharmaceutical anti-corruption storm swept across the country, and also exposed the corruption of pharmaceutical companies and medical institutions in various regions to the public. In the pharmaceutical industry under the storm, some people say that "the world has been suffering from high kickbacks for a long time", while some pharmaceutical representatives have already "left" one step ahead.
Screenshot of Xizang Discipline Inspection and Supervision Network
Over 150 hospital deans and secretaries have fallen from grace,
Grassroots hospitals also harbor dirt and grime
In the past week, a strong anti-corruption campaign has deterred the entire pharmaceutical industry.
On the evening of July 31st, "Snake Venom Killer" Salon Biotech announced that one of Salon Biotech's actual controllers, Chairman, and legal representative Fan Zhihe, was detained and investigated for suspected crimes related to his position.
A few days later on August 4th, officials from three hospitals in Guangdong were reported for suspected serious violations of discipline and law.
On the same day, "Qingfeng Jieyang" announced that Lin Tiehan, the secretary and person in charge of the Party branch of the Third People's Hospital of Jieyang City, was suspected of serious violations of discipline and law and voluntarily surrendered. He is currently undergoing disciplinary review and supervision investigation by the Jieyang Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision; Shantou Discipline Inspection and Supervision announced that Cai Zongxin, Secretary of the Party Committee and President of Chaonan District Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital in Shantou City, is suspected of serious violations of discipline and law. He is currently undergoing disciplinary review and supervision investigation by the Chaonan District Discipline Inspection and Supervision Commission; According to the news released by "Xinhui Qingfeng", Huang Jinlian, former Party Secretary of Xinhui District People's Hospital in Jiangmen City, is suspected of serious violations of discipline and law. He is currently undergoing disciplinary review and supervision investigation by the Xinhui District Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision in Jiangmen City.
A day later, the Xizang Discipline Inspection and Supervision Network released news that Tang Rongke, secretary of the Party Committee of the Xizang Autonomous Region Tibetan Hospital, was suspected of serious violations of discipline and was currently under disciplinary review and supervision and investigation by the Xizang Autonomous Region Commission for Discipline Inspection.
On August 7th, "Qingfeng Jieyang" announced that Zhang Zhuangquan, former Secretary of the Party Group and Director of the Health Bureau in Jiexi County, had been expelled from the Party and his retirement benefits revoked due to serious violations of discipline and law.
In recent years, against the backdrop of the continuous increase in anti-corruption efforts in the pharmaceutical industry, hospital deans and secretaries have become the targets of attention, especially since the beginning of this year, the anti-corruption storm has become increasingly fierce.
Under the continuous high-pressure crackdown, a group of hospital leaders and key personnel have been gradually taken down. According to incomplete media statistics, as of now, at least 159 hospital directors and secretaries have been investigated nationwide. Among them, some secretaries and deans of grassroots hospitals have experienced the phenomenon of "petty officials and huge greed".
For example, on February 10th this year, the People's Court of Nanxian County, Yiyang City, Hunan Province, publicly held a hearing to hear the case of Tong Wei, former Party Secretary of Nanxian People's Hospital, suspected of accepting bribes.
At that time, the prosecution accused that from January 2013 to September 2021, the defendant Tong Wei took advantage of his position as the Party Secretary of Nanxian People's Hospital to seek benefits for some units and individuals in the centralized distribution of drugs, procurement of medical equipment and consumables, project bidding, and settlement of business funds. He received a total of RMB 9.665 million in cash from 11 people multiple times, which was particularly huge. His behavior has violated relevant provisions of the Criminal Law and should be held criminally responsible for bribery.
Academic conferences are for fundraising purposes,
High commission still unable to feed enough
Commercial bribery has always been an "open secret" in the pharmaceutical industry, but with the increasing efforts of regulatory authorities to investigate and deal with commercial bribery cases, some pharmaceutical companies have begun to adopt more covert and complex measures to cover their bribery behavior with a "legal cover" - some companies engage in illegal profit transmission under the guise of sponsoring research funds, academic conference fees, etc; Some pay hospital staff kickbacks in the pharmaceutical purchase and sales process, and so on.
As early as 2021, the Ministry of Finance announced the results of administrative penalties imposed on 19 pharmaceutical companies, including well-known domestic and foreign pharmaceutical companies such as Hengrui Pharmaceutical, Buchang Pharmaceutical, and Sanofi. Among them, Hengrui Pharmaceutical mainly involves fictitious expenses, including reimbursing expert lecture fees, review fees, hosting fees, etc. for non company airfare and other expenses incurred in 2018.
On the one hand, enterprises penetrate the hospital through various channels in order to gain higher market share. On the other hand, high kickbacks also make suppliers and agents complain that they are not fed enough.
This year, the website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission disclosed a case: a medical device linear accelerator with an import price of 15 million yuan was purchased by a hospital for 35.2 million yuan, and the rebate in between was actually eaten by the hospital director for 16 million yuan.
"There are too many academic conferences just to make money, and suppliers are also suffering unbearably," Liu Ming, an insider of a medical device agency, told China News Finance.
According to Liu Ming, the current industry average is to give hospital insiders a commission of 20% -30%. Salespeople only receive a small portion of the commission, some of which are about 1% after deducting the hospital's "kickbacks", while others can only reach about 3%. "Perhaps with a sales revenue of 10000 yuan, salespeople cannot even get 100 yuan after deducting taxes."
"Because there are more than one supplier of similar products in a department, whoever provides the 'support' will use their own, so the price will increase more and more. However, currently, the average default level in our field is 30%, and we can't afford to raise it anymore, nor can we be satisfied."
Liu Ming bluntly stated that some so-called "tycoons" in hospitals often go out in luxury cars and first-class cabins, and are invited to attend meetings whenever they have free time, while the ordinary people on the other side have to face the high cost of medical treatment.
Pharmacology has already left the scene one step ahead
The industry pointed out that due to the clear focus of this concentrated rectification on key links and "key minorities" in the pharmaceutical industry, such as production, supply, sales, use, and reimbursement, pharmaceutical enterprises have become the "storm eye" of anti-corruption.
Although several companies, including Hengrui Pharmaceutical, have responded to rumors, the A-share pharmaceutical sector has still suffered collectively in recent times.
At the same time, some pharmaceutical representatives are also feeling a bit restless. According to media reports, in a chat group in a pharmaceutical industry where journalists are diving, many pharmaceutical representatives are sharing the latest anti-corruption trends in their respective provinces, causing anxiety and tension to spread.
But in Liu Ming's view, there are already signs of changes among various "representatives".
"The pharmaceutical industry has already taken a step forward," Liu Ming said. With the national centralized procurement of drugs in the past few years, the living space of this group of people has been greatly compressed. Many pharmaceutical companies have left this industry, followed by some consumable agents. "Many cardiovascular and orthopedic agents have already gone bankrupt."
An industry insider working at a multinational pharmaceutical consulting company revealed to reporters that in recent years, many pharmaceutical companies have been downsizing their personnel, especially some sales personnel.
Wu Na used to be a nurse in a public hospital. A few years ago, in order to seek better career development, she used her resource advantages to switch careers and become a pharmaceutical representative.
She admitted that earlier on, the core competitiveness of a pharmaceutical agency in achieving good performance was its "network" in various hospital departments. Of course, this was naturally inseparable from profit transmission. Previously, her main business was in the grassroots medical institution market, but in recent years, with the continuous expansion of volume based procurement, her work has encountered many difficulties. Finally, in 2022, Wu Na chose to switch careers.
These phenomena are also reflected in the financial report data of enterprises. Taking Hengrui Pharmaceutical as an example, its 2022 financial report shows that the annual sales expenses for 2022 were approximately 7.348 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 21.7%.
The intensity of the storm will not decrease!
Industry expects medical care to return to the essence of saving lives and helping the injured
However, it is evident that this pharmaceutical anti-corruption storm will not stop.
On July 21st, the website of the National Health Commission announced that the Commission, together with the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Public Security, the National Audit Office, the State owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, the State Administration for Market Regulation, the National Medical Insurance Administration, the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, the National Bureau of Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Medical Products Administration, jointly held a video conference to deploy a one-year nationwide campaign to address corruption in the pharmaceutical industry.
A week later, the disciplinary inspection and supervision organs cooperated to carry out the mobilization and deployment video conference for the centralized rectification of corruption in the national pharmaceutical field in Beijing. The meeting pointed out that focusing on rectifying corruption in the pharmaceutical industry is an inevitable requirement for promoting the implementation of the Healthy China strategy, purifying the ecosystem of the pharmaceutical industry, and safeguarding the vital interests of the people.
The meeting also emphasized the need to stimulate the internal driving force of fulfilling the main responsibility through external supervision, and to deepen the systematic governance of the pharmaceutical industry in all fields, all chains, and all coverage. Intensify disciplinary and law enforcement efforts, closely monitor leading cadres and key personnel, adhere to joint investigations of bribery and bribery, concentrate efforts on investigating a number of corruption cases in the pharmaceutical industry, and form a deterrent effect.
Experts have pointed out that in response to the issue of corruption in the pharmaceutical industry, hospitals need to strengthen democratic supervision, relevant government departments need to strengthen audit supervision, disciplinary supervision agencies need to strengthen inspection efforts, and establish a comprehensive regulatory system with multiple approaches. At the same time, it is necessary to strengthen supervision in areas such as drug procurement, personnel arrangements, and engineering construction, especially actively supervise the implementation of various laws, regulations, policy provisions, and systems in these areas, and supervise the exercise of power under the sunshine.
Liu Ming, who has worked in the pharmaceutical industry for more than 10 years, also admitted that although suppliers face great pressure under the anti-corruption storm, for some rampant "worms", rectification is essential, so that money can be spent on what is truly needed, allowing enterprises to have more energy to focus on research and technological updates, and returning medical care to the essence of saving lives and helping the wounded.
