The endocrinologist is suspected of having prescribed medications to treat type 2 diabetes to clients of a clinic who used them to lose weight. The alleged fraud, which reportedly involved two doctors and a lawyer, could have damaged the NHS by 3 million euros.
An endocrinologist was arrested this Wednesday in Porto for alleged involvement in a fraudulent scheme of prescribing diabetes medication to users who wanted to lose weight.
According to the Judiciary Police, the scheme may have harmed the State in more than three million euroscorresponding to the value of SNS contributions in the cost of the medicines prescribed by the now detained doctor.
In a statement, the PJ states that “in this investigation strong evidence was collected of the participation of two doctors, a lawyer and a medical clinic in the aforementioned scheme”, adding that “the suspects caused losses to the Portuguese State that could amount to around three million euros, through the payment of participation feesobtained fraudulently”.
This criminal investigation force states that the detained doctor is suspected of “participating in a fraudulent scheme, through which medication was prescribed to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus disease to clients of a clinic, who do not suffer from it and whose sole purpose of prescription would be weight loss”.
A police source told the Lusa agency that one of the places targeted by the authorities is a clinic located in Portowhere the endocrinologist worked. At issue are crimes of qualified fraud and computer falsehood.
During the operation, called Obelixsearches were carried out at the residence of the main suspects, at a law office, at a health establishment “that everything leads us to believe it is a facade“, according to the PJ statement, and the headquarters of two companiesin Albufeira and Funchal.
Searches were also carried out in accounting offices in Santa Maria da Feira and Lousada”, reads the PJ statement, which recalls that the National Health Service (SNS) reimbursement for this type of medication, such as Ozempic“can reach the 95% of its valueif the patient is in fact diabetic”.
Medicines were prescribed to people who do not suffer from the disease diabetes, “through the introduction of false data in prescription software”.
“Fraud against the SNS involves, as a rule, well-defined plans where there is a logic directed towards the obtaining high profitsby its authors, with the consequent waste of public funds and harm to the proper functioning of institutions and public health in general”, reads the statement.
According to PJ, “face to social dimension of crimes in question, several search warrants were issued by the judicial authorities, as well as an arrest warrant for the first judicial interrogation for the main suspect in the investigation”.
The investigation is under investigation in the Northern Directorate of the PJ and is also linked to a another inquiry which investigates the crime of tax fraud with the same suspects, which is carried out by the Department of Investigation and Criminal Action (DIAP) of Santa Maria da Feira, district of Aveiro, and which is investigated by the Tax Authority.
A Order of Doctors decided to initiate disciplinary proceedings to the detained doctor. As the source of the order told Lusa, the disciplinary process will take place at the Northern Regional Disciplinary Council, and the authorities have been asked for relevant information for the disciplinary assessment that will now be carried out.
