BBC News, 9
November 2012
The detained doctors are accused of malpractice and corruption |
Police in
Italy have arrested nine cardiologists over allegations that they carried out
unauthorised experimental treatments on patients.
All the
doctors arrested are linked to the Policlinico hospital in Modena.
The doctors
are also accused of corruption and embezzlement. The police told local media
that they had seized around 1m euros ($1.2m; £0.8m).
The police
say their ongoing inquiry also includes an investigation into two suspicious
deaths at the hospital.
One of the
doctors has been put in jail while the others are under house arrest.
Investigators
"uncovered a well-oiled organisation made up of cardiologists and
representatives from companies supplying medical equipment, implicated in
corrupt business affairs", a police statement said, according to the AFP
news agency.
The
investigation has also involved 12 firms, six of them foreign, that supply
medical equipment.
They have
been barred from working with the state health service while the inquiry
continues.
The
investigation began after a consumer protection group started to receive
anonymous tip-offs about alleged irregularities at the hospital, the BBC's Alan
Johnston in Rome reports.
The
authorities seem to have become increasingly concerned as they scrutinised both
the medical and financial practices there, our correspondent adds.
"[The
investigation] reveals - if the serious accusations are confirmed - that a
number of professionals are sadly not playing by the rules," Health
Minister Renato Balduzzi said, according to the Associated Press news agency.
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