15 scalpers get prison for hospital deception
Print Edition
A COURT in Beijing has sent 15 people to prison for “scalping” hospital patients by posing as medical staff, exaggerating the effects of treatments and prescribing expensive drugs.
The court in Beijing’s Chaoyang District sentenced the defendants to prison terms of between 19 months and more than two years, Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday.
The issue of hospital-based fraud flared up in January when a woman in Beijing posted a video denouncing other scalpers for buying up “tickets” needed to ensure an appointment with a doctor and then reselling them at inflated prices.
Chinese patients contend with a creaking health care system that suffers from a shortage of doctors, snarling queues to see medical workers, and a huge disparity between urban and rural care that drives many patients from the countryside to hospitals in big cities.
The Beijing court said on its official microblog that the 15 people had illegally rented consulting rooms at large hospitals and then lured in patients with fake credentials and prescribed them expensive traditional Chinese medicines.
It said the people had swindled more than 60 patients and raked in tens of thousands of dollars in profit through the scheme.
China is trying to reform its health system, looking to encourage private investment in hospitals to take the pressure off state facilities.
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