“Neither the verdict nor the qualifications agree”: in the Moscow region a well-known oncologist was found guilty of bribery

In Obninsk, the court convicted Pavel Sviridov, an oncologist and head of the Department of Brachytherapy Center at Clinical Hospital No. 8. According to the investigation and the state prosecution, for two years he demanded from patients a bribe in the amount of 50 to 400 thousand rubles for assistance in obtaining state brachytherapy quotas - a high-tech method of treating cancer. In total, 24 oncologists were charged with 24 episodes of receiving money from patients for a total of 5.4 million rubles.

Despite the fact that the patients themselves at court denied extortion by Sviridov of bribes and argued that the oncologist had no influence on the issuance of quotas to them, on December 18 the Obninsk city court found the arguments of the prosecution reasonable.

Having re-qualified four episodes of receiving money for the article “Fraud”, the court sentenced the doctor to four years in prison conditionally and a fine of five million. At the same time, the sentence turned out to be much milder than the prosecution requested: imprisonment for 11 years and a fine of 30 million rubles.

RT reported that a case against an oncologist was initiated in December 2016. The doctor, who came to be treated from all over Russia, was unexpectedly detained when receiving a bribe in the amount of 350 thousand rubles. The bribe-taker turned out to be a law enforcement officer by the name of Serpent, posing as a relative of the patient. The oncologist’s defense claimed that it was a provocation: the woman simply put an envelope with Sviridov’s money on the table and left the office.

The investigation lasted more than a year, and the number of court sessions approached 50.

In court, the oncologist did not deny that he asked his patients to pay extra if necessary, but only for consumables for the operation, and not for assistance in obtaining subsidies.

The doctor tried to prove that he bought the materials at his own expense, and some patients, who had the desire and opportunity, reimbursed him for expenses after treatment.

“In 2010, the state began to allocate money for free brachytherapy for citizens,” RT Sviridov explained. - The subsidy was 486 thousand rubles, and this was usually enough. In 2015, after changes in the methods of calculation, the amount was halved - to 234 thousand. And this money never covered the real costs of patient treatment - only micro sources per patient cost up to half a million rubles. ”

According to the oncologist, "a stalemate has developed: the patients needed urgent help, but they could not officially pay for the patients."

"Punished all patients"

In the last word, Sviridov noted that he would be ready to admit guilt in violation of financial discipline and when working with documents, but not in fraud.

“I’m accused of taking bribes from patients for helping to get a“ quota ”for free treatment,” Sviridov explained to the court. - However, I am not an official, whose authority includes the ability to influence the process of issuing the so-called "quota". There is no document called “Quota” and no one can contribute to its design, including myself. If, however, referring to the “quota” document under the name “coupon-direction” for the provision of the VMP, then I am not endowed with any authority for its design and issuance. ”

The doctor noted that in the two years during which he allegedly treated patients for bribes, more than 80% of successfully operated patients were not provided with the necessary financial resources from the budget, and therefore their treatment required additional funding.

Sviridov described in detail the most flagrant, in his opinion, violations committed by the investigation - the withdrawal of medical records of patients by law enforcement officers without a relevant court decision and the preparation of a crime report a few hours before it was committed.

According to the oncologist, the Brachytherapy Center created by him was essentially closed after a criminal case was opened against him.

“It was not only me who was punished, all the patients who needed my help were punished, my advice during the period of house arrest, the patients who were not treated by me for all this time were punished. After working for some time, while consumables for operations purchased by me were available, the center closed, ”he says. The defendant added that if he really was a corrupt official, his arrest, on the contrary, would have a positive effect on the activities of the medical institution.

According to defender oncologist Eduard Burushko, in the verdict the court did not give a legal assessment of the evidence, which was studied for a long time and closely during the sessions.

“For example, we proved that even two quotas were not enough to treat one patient,” the lawyer said in an interview with RT. “The court ignored this.”

According to counsel, the verdict will be appealed.

“It’s good that my client left the meeting room not under escort, as the state prosecution would like. For the rest, we disagree neither with the verdict nor with the qualification of crimes, ”added Burushko.