The authorities are investigating several pharmacists in Bavaria because they are said to have illegally sold the corona drug Paxlovid abroad. “We can currently only speculate about the number of packs of Paxlovid that were embezzled,” said a press spokesman for the Bavarian Central Office for Combating Fraud and Corruption in the Health Care System (ZKG) in Nuremberg. “We are only at the beginning of the investigation. However, one or two investigations could already involve damage amounting to millions.”
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According to the ZKG, the Federal Ministry of Health makes the drug available to pharmacies free of charge for patients. However, it may not be resold to third parties.
The eight pharmacies in Bavaria that are the focus of the investigation are said to have ordered up to 2,500 packs of the drug. The ZKG spokesman was initially unable to say how many of them might have been resold illegally. Around 70 investigators searched objects in Upper Bavaria, Middle Franconia, Upper Franconia and Upper Palatinate in mid-December. According to the information, they seized numerous documents.
Complaint by the Federal Ministry of Health against pharmacists
According to research by WDR, NDR and South German newspaper The Federal Ministry of Health has previously filed a complaint against pharmacists who are suspected of having resold the drug illegally. Accordingly, the ministry discovered at the beginning of 2023 that individual pharmacies had ordered enormously large quantities of Paxlovid, in some cases apparently more than 1,000 packs.
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According to information from WDR, NDR and SZ The ministry sent criminal complaints against pharmacists to more than 25 public prosecutors nationwide. In most of these cases, investigations are still ongoing.
According to the research, the federal government is said to have paid around 650 euros per pack of Paxlovid. Around 560,000 units are said to have been delivered to pharmacies.
The authorities are investigating several pharmacists in Bavaria because they are said to have illegally sold the corona drug Paxlovid abroad. “We can currently only speculate about the number of packs of Paxlovid that were embezzled,” said a press spokesman for the Bavarian Central Office for Combating Fraud and Corruption in the Health Care System (ZKG) in Nuremberg. “We are only at the beginning of the investigation. However, one or two investigations could already involve damage amounting to millions.”