International pharmaceutical groups involved in large corruption scandal in Romania

The National Anticorruption Directorate – DNA’s investigation on deals between Romanian doctors and drug companies for cancer drug prescriptions might target 11 of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the local market. The list includes Roche Romania, subsidiary of Swiss multinational Roche, as well as Actavis, Pfizer Romania, Teva Pharmaceuticals Romania, Novartis Pharma Services, Alvogen Romania, Sandoz Pharma Services, Glaxosmithkline Romania, Egis Internațional, drug distributor Romastru Trading and drug producer Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, according to judicial sources quoted by Agerpres. Roche has already confirmed that it was one of the companies targeted by the investigation and said it would fully cooperate with the investigators. The company’s general manager Dan Zamonea left the company a few months ago, after 15 years. The anticorruption prosecutors have already carried out searches at several local pharma companies, drug distributors, hospitals, and oncology clinics on Tuesday, as part of a corruption investigation targeting the prescription of cancer drugs based on arrangements between doctors and pharma companies. They apparently found expired drugs, for which the state had allocated public funds, but which haven’t been used. Some doctors working in state oncology clinics and hospitals allegedly ordered these drugs as if they had patients who needed the treatments. According to DNA, pharma companies offered doctors working in hospitals in the Mures, Salaj, Sibiu, Bistrita-Nasaud and Cluj counties various rewards for prescribing the drugs they produced or distributed. Romanian doctors, pharma companies, under investigation in trips for cancer drug prescriptions case editor@romania-insider.com