BEIJING, March 3 (Zhongxin.com) -- Anti-corruption efforts in the medical system continue to intensify, and in less than a week, many people have been killed. Why is corruption so common in healthcare? What are the trends in the fight against corruption in the pharmaceutical field?

Many people have fallen from power, and anti-corruption in the medical field has attracted attention

On March 3, the State Supervision Commission of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection released two reports involving the investigation of cadres in the medical and health fields, including Chen Minsheng, secretary of the party committee of Southern Medical University, and Wang Zhongping, former secretary of the party group and director of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Medical Security Bureau.

Screenshot of the website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the State Supervision Commission.

Recently, anti-corruption actions in the field of medicine and health have attracted much attention from the outside world.

On March 3, the Anhui Discipline Inspection and Supervision Website announced that Wang Xiping, member of the Party Committee and vice president of Tongcheng Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, was suspected of serious violations of discipline and law, and is currently undergoing disciplinary review and supervision and investigation by the Anqing Discipline Inspection Commission.

In Guangdong, on March 3, the Zhongshan Discipline Inspection and Supervision website announced that Luo Yong, former secretary of the general party branch and president of Zhongshan Tanzhou People's Hospital, was expelled from the party and public office for serious violations of discipline and law.

According to media statistics, from January 1 to February 9 this year, in 2 days, at least 17 hospital leaders were dismissed, or were double-opened and arrested. Of these, 39 have served as deans and 26 as vice-deans.

The problem of corruption is mostly related to equipment procurement and engineering infrastructure

Historically, in corruption cases in the field of medicine and health, the parties involved mostly involve corruption in the transmission of benefits.

For example, Zhongshan Discipline Inspection and Supervision reported to Rayong that he used his position to seek benefits for others in the supply of pharmaceutical consumables and the procurement of medical equipment, and illegally accepted huge amounts of property.

On February 2, the Guangxi Discipline Inspection and Supervision Network issued a notice that Guan Yingyong, former secretary of the Party Committee and president of the First People's Hospital of Yulin City, was "double-opened" for serious violations of discipline and law.

According to the circular, officials are brave and lustful, rely on medical treatment, take advantage of their positions, engage in power-for-money transactions in hospital infrastructure projects, procurement of medicines and medical equipment, and illegally accept property with relatives and friends, and the amount is particularly large; embezzlement and misappropriation of charitable funds in collaboration with relatives and friends; Abuse of power and unauthorized disposal of assets of state-owned medical enterprises have caused particularly huge losses.

Infographic. Photo by Xu Siwei

Be wary of covert profit transfers

"In many hospitals, the president alone has the final say, and the people below go up according to the process, and it is possible that the president will be dismissed, and the rules and regulations are empty." Deng Yong, director of the Qihuang Law and Business Research Center at Beijing University of Chinese Medicine and professor of medical and health law, said plugging oversight blind spots and institutional loopholes is the key to cracking down on medical corruption.

Deng Yong said that in recent years, the supervision of the medical and health sector has increased, but what needs to be warned is that the way in which the benefits of corrupt behavior have become more hidden.

On November 2022, 11, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) reported five typical cases of special enforcement actions against unfair competition, two of which were commercial bribery incidents in the form of scientific research sponsorship and payment kickbacks in the medical and health industry. According to the circular, with the increasing investigation and handling of commercial bribery cases, some pharmaceutical companies have adopted more covert and sophisticated methods to put on the "legal appearance" of their bribery.

On February 2, the website of the State Supervision Commission of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection published an article entitled "Strict Investigation of Hidden Profit Transmission in the Medical Field", which said that the problem of corruption in the medical field has been continuously mutated and iteratively upgraded, for example, "customized" bidding, "evasive" entrusted procurement, "share-issued" dividends, "welfare-style" seminars and training...

Wang Yue, a professor in the Department of Medical Ethics and Law at Peking University's School of Medical Humanities, pointed out that the irregularity of bidding behavior is the reason why many hospital leading cadres have been investigated. He suggested that online direct procurement of drugs, medical devices and large-scale equipment should be implemented as soon as possible, eliminating middlemen and avoiding agents becoming "white gloves".

Wang Yue also said that the medical industry is prone to the abuse of expert power due to its strong professionalism. He believes that commercial bribery and excessive medical treatment are the two major cancers that affect the trust foundation of doctors and patients, and from this point of view, the key to medical anti-corruption is to implement "zero tolerance" and avoid the existence of fluke mentality. (End)