Greek Police Arrest Doctor over Cancer Drug Thefts

A doctor accused of being part of a ring of hospital employees allegedly stealing life-saving cancer medicines for sale abroad, was arrested on Wednesday.
The doctor at Laiko Hospital in Athens was detained by Greek police’s financial crimes squad and will face an investigator.
Athens-Macedonian News Agency reported that the arrest took place at the doctor’s home in Pagrati.
On May 4 Greek police  arrested 21 people including doctors, nurses and pharmacists involved in the purported racket to steal cancer medicines from a public hospital and sell them abroad.
The accused were taken to a prosecutor on charges of embezzlement, forged prescriptions and fraud.
According to police, the ring had four leaders and 17 core members; suspect transport companies were also involved.
Private doctors have been accused of collaborating with colleagues and nurses in a large public hospital to steal expensive cancer drugs worth €1,000 – €6,000 ($1,120- $7,180) paid for by the Greek state.
Another method to get expensive medicines was by writing illegal prescriptions for non-cancer patients who were presented as being in the final stages of the disease.
The expensive drugs were then sold at higher prices on the black market in Scandinavia, Italy, Germany and France. Police say that a €6,000 of medicine was sold for €15,000 in one Scandinavian country.