The recycling price of a box of "Taressa" is 2,100 yuan? Collect medicines at high prices and hide them in "deep water areas"
Walking in the streets, you suddenly see a small card under your feet that says "Pharmaceuticals at a high price". Are you tempted? The reporter's investigation found that under the severe crackdown, the "high-price drug collection" industry chain has converged, and transactions have become more cautious and vigilant. In order to avoid crackdowns, drug collectors often choose to make offline arrangements with drug sellers, inspect the goods in person, and make cash transactions. Professionals remind that individuals participating in the sale and purchase of drugs are extremely risky and may be suspected of illegal crimes.
In the afternoon, the area near Niujie Subway Station was bustling with people. A quick drizzle drenched the street. On the auxiliary roadside of Guang'anmen Nei Street running east-west, patients and their families were entering and exiting the south gate of Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University. An old lady was walking when she suddenly bent down and looked at the ground under her feet, "I can't see clearly. I want to see what's going on."
It turned out that what the aunt was bending over to look at was a small card with black characters on a white background. On the small card, "Collect Medicine" was written in two eye-catching red characters, and a phone number was left below the card. The reporter saw at the scene that there was more than one similar small card. Almost every few steps you take, you will find medicine collection cards of different colors at your feet. In order to attract passers-by, some small cards say "collect medicines", some say "collect medicines at high prices", and some are printed with the words "collect medicines at extremely high prices". On the small cards, most of them listed the specific names of some drugs, including Cordyceps sinensis, etc.
The reporter walked east from Guangning Park on the side of Guang'anmen Nei Street to Niujie Subway Station and found that within a short distance of about 300 meters, there were more than 100 "high-priced medicine collection" cards "lying" on the ground. 20 photos. Most of these small cards are relatively new, with complete contents and few damages. Since it rained lightly that day, these small cards that had been "watered" by the rain were as if they were stuck to the ground with glue and were difficult to move. "It's true that there are quite a lot of them, and it affects the city's environment." A passerby said after seeing this scene.
Where do these little cards for "charging medicines at high prices" come from? The reporter asked a sanitation worker on the side of the road. He waved and shook his head from a distance. He was not sure. "I've seen a few people riding electric bikes throw a few cards out of their pockets while riding, and then leave." A guard at the south gate of Xuanwu Hospital said that he saw people throwing small cards. "Most of them are women riding bicycles." According to his introduction, these people who throw small cards usually come in the morning and noon. "It's not always on time. They sometimes come in summer and winter." And for these people, they usually come in the morning and noon. The security guard said that he had no right to deal with the person who threw the small card. "We security guards have no law enforcement power. If I were really asked to stop and deal with it, I would definitely be able to catch him."
Small advertisements for collecting medicines scattered on the roadside in front of Xuanwu Hospital
Behind these small advertisements of "collecting medicines at high prices", what medicines are mainly needed, and how high can the price be? The reporter's investigation found that most of them are drugs related to "senile diseases", mostly prescription drugs, and drug collectors often choose the drugs and their expiration dates when recycling drugs.
"Recycling Cordyceps Sinensis, Nexavar, Tarceva, Iressa, Gleevec..." The reporter tried to contact a person who "received drugs at extremely high prices." "If you have any medicines, send them over!" The other party said that there are several types of medicines that he mainly recovers, including cardiovascular and cerebrovascular drugs, Chinese patent medicines and targeted drugs for the treatment of tumors. After a brief conversation, the drug collector asked for pictures of the drugs in order to inquire more accurately. Take Baixintong, which mainly treats hypertension, coronary heart disease, and angina pectoris, as an example. The recycling price for a box is 13 yuan. "What other medicines are there? Send me some photos." The reporter sent a picture of "Tagressa", which is used to treat advanced lung tumors. After seeing it, the other party responded with a louder voice, "Tagressa, it's effective. If the product is in good condition, it can be sold for a lot of money, more than 2,000 yuan per box." Then he asked to send detailed pictures of the drug's production date, expiration date, etc., "I have to help you inquire about the price."
The reporter compared the information on multiple small cards and found that behind the so-called "high-price drug collection", most of the drugs recovered were common drugs such as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular drugs for the elderly and tumors, especially prescription drugs. The drug collector also said that the main reference factors for the price of the recovered drugs are the quality of the drug packaging and the length of the validity period. "Generally, the longer the validity period, the more expensive it is, but it is not necessarily determined by which batch number it comes from." After some inquiring about the price, the drug collector said that the recycling price of each box of "Taressa" is 2,100 yuan. "It's mainly because the date is not good, otherwise it can be increased a little more. But this thing is the price after reimbursement. Don’t you also get reimbursement?”
A small advertisement for collecting medicines on the ground at the subway entrance of Niujie Subway Station
The investigation found that even for medicines of the same brand and expiry date, the "high price" will vary depending on the person. The reporter contacted another drug collector. After hearing about Baixintong and Tagrisso, he said that Baixintong "doesn't have much money, about 10 yuan, and the tumor drug is still worth some money." Then, the other party gave him The price of Tarrisa sold is 1,000 yuan per box, "you can also receive one box." It said that the sealing of pharmaceutical packaging must be good, "it will not work if it is damaged."
Last month, this newspaper reported that Beijing had dug up a huge black market for drug collection, investigated and punished more than a hundred people in the first batch, and found drug-related groups in many provinces and regions. Among them, a drug seller said that after he used his medical insurance card to prescribe medicines and saved up a certain amount, the recipient Li came to pick up the medicines and purchased them at 40% to 50% of the original price of the medicines. In the past two years, relying on the difference in medical insurance reimbursement, the uncle has made a profit worth about 22% of the original price of the drug every time. The National Medical Insurance Administration also pointed out not long ago that at present, the crime of illegal reselling of medical insurance and defrauding drugs has formed a profit network and a black and gray industrial chain, including drug fraud, drug recycling, logistics delivery, and resale of drugs, etc., and professional "drug dealers" ”, insured persons, medical institutions and other stakeholders participated.
The deputy director of the medical management department of a tertiary general hospital in Beijing said that judging from some previous cases, there is a chain of interests hidden behind the so-called "high price collection of drugs". "Some drug sellers have certain methods, or they have diseases and need to go to the hospital for prescription medicine for a long time. The price of the medicines they get through medical insurance reimbursement is already very low. The drug collectors themselves will give a slightly lower price to purchase the medicines. If you resell it, these stakeholders will make money.”
The investigation found that in the dark and gray industrial chain of "collecting drugs at high prices", those who sell drugs through small advertisements are often just the middle link in the chain. Compared with before, many drug collectors appear to be more cautious in communication, and will not imply or guide drug sellers to use medical insurance to continue prescribing drugs. In order to avoid supervision, face-to-face cash transactions have become "industry" regulations.
During the unannounced visit, after hearing the name of the drug in the reporter’s hands, both recipients responded that they needed to ask for the price. "We have to ask others." said one of the medicine collectors. I asked specifically who and how, but there was no reply. Another drug collector said that he needed to ask "the people who take the medicine." Taking the tumor treatment drug Tagrisso as an example, when the reporter said that the recycling price was too low, a drug collector replied, "We I also want to give you a higher price, but I can’t sell it.”
The reason why they say "cannot be sold" is because the drug collector behind the small card is more of a "second-rate dealer" in the chain. "We won't keep these medicines because the price is too high and we can't sell them," said the recipient who offered Tagrisso 1,000 yuan. The person who received the medicine with an asking price of 2,100 yuan said more bluntly, "I don't know what the market price is now, and I didn't set this price..." He said that now there are 2,200 yuan and 2,300 yuan per pill. The price of the box was determined by the Teresa in his hand, "I'll get it for 2,100 yuan."
How to trade once the price is right? The reporter contacted two drug collectors. One of them claimed to be in Fangshan District, and the other claimed to be in Fengtai District. Both said that if they sell drugs, they need to agree with them in advance on a location, inspect the goods in person, and must use cash for transactions. "There is no mobile phone, only cash. If you are worried, I can go to the bank with you to deposit money." He asked to be precise about how many boxes of medicines he wanted to sell. "I hope I have enough money."
"In this chain, except for individual drugs that may need to be stored in refrigerators, the quality of general drugs should not be a big problem." The deputy director of the medical management department of a tertiary comprehensive hospital mentioned above said, but those who engage in reselling drugs will bear the responsibility The risks and costs of committing a crime are extremely high. "Not to mention whether drug sellers may sell counterfeit drugs, more importantly, whether they are buying or selling, this behavior is suspected of being illegal."
According to the deputy director, prescribing medicines from hospitals through medical insurance funds and then reselling them is a naked criminal act of "fraudulent insurance" and is also the target of severe crackdowns by many relevant departments. He reminded citizens not to be gullible and participate in the so-called "high-priced drug collection." It is also suggested that big data, intelligent technology, etc., can be used to optimize and upgrade from a technical level or work with third parties to conduct dynamic tracking to achieve key identification and monitoring of some people who use more drugs. This includes scientific and dynamic assessment of an individual’s actual physical condition, usage trends of medical insurance account funds, medication prescribing time and frequency of behavior, and the balance of specific medication use.
