Daily TeamIn March, an oncologist from a Poznań hospital was detained by the Department for Combating Economic Crime of the Municipal Police Headquarters in Poznań for mass issuing opioid prescriptions, including for deceased patients. Details of the case were revealed only recently.
The police had been investigating the illegal trade of prescriptions when they apprehended the doctor, who had been issuing and selling prescriptions for potent painkillers such as Fentanyl, Oxycontin, Oxydolor, and Reltebon. “These drugs are significantly stronger than morphine,” explained Andrzej Borowiak from the Greater Poland police.
The investigation uncovered that in May, a man who had been paying the doctor for these prescriptions was also detained. The police action followed a notification from the hospital, which in the summer of 2023, during an internal audit, discovered that one of their doctors had issued an unusually high number of opioid prescriptions. This prompted the hospital to notify the Poznań Grunwald District Prosecutor’s Office, and subsequently the Municipal Police Headquarters in Poznań.
Investigators determined that the doctor had issued nearly 800 prescriptions for strong painkillers, some of which were for deceased patients. The man who paid for these prescriptions then filled them at pharmacies in various cities. He managed to purchase over 1,600 packages of medicines, worth PLN 450,000, which were reimbursed.
Both the doctor and the man now face up to 8 years in prison.
