Osaka High Court suspended sentence for doctors accused of bribery in joint research on hay fever conducted at a municipal hospital in Kishiwada City, Osaka, who were found not guilty in the first trial. handed down a guilty verdict.
Four years ago, Genichi Kato, a 65-year-old doctor who was the head of the respiratory center at Kishiwada Municipal Hospital, offered the convenience of concluding a joint research contract on his specialty, hay fever research, in return for a contract with a general public in Tokyo. He was accused of receiving 200,000 yen in cash from Defendant Jun Kojima (66), the representative director of an incorporated association, and other crimes such as bribery.
Kojima was also charged with bribery.
Last year, the first trial found no particular favors, and the cash was a reward for advice as a medical expert. rice field.
In the judgment of the second trial on the 9th, Osaka High Court Presiding Judge Makoto Wada said, ``At the time defendant Kato requested compensation, it was virtually decided that clinical research would be conducted at this hospital. It was paid to defendant Kato, who has influence in order to make things go smoothly."
They reversed his acquittal and sentenced Kato to two years in prison, suspended for three years, and Kojima to eight months in prison, suspended for two years.
The defense team for Kojima, representative director of the General Incorporated Association "Medical and Health Resources Development Institute," who was convicted in the first trial, said, "There are errors in the facts and in the evaluation of the evidence. The judgment of the high court is unjust. It is clear," he said, indicating a policy to appeal.
Osaka High Public Prosecutors Office's deputy chief prosecutor, Fumihiko Oyumiba, commented, "This is an appropriate and reasonable ruling that recognizes the prosecutor's allegations."