In Brazil the industry is forbidden from giving money directly to physicians, so the bribe comes in the form of expenses paid to a cardiology congress at some tropical paradise. They also sponsor talks and things like that.
Orthopedists often take off-the-books kickbacks from physiotherapy clinics they recommend, Dermatologists take kickbacks from handling pharmacies for custom "hydrating lotions", and so on.
The worst case is the field of orthopedic prosthesis: it is controlled by a mob, the same gangsters control other surgical materials like the stents used for coronary angioplasty. A congressional committee investigated the issue and indicted 10 people from 16 companies:
* Empresas Oscar Iskin
* Totalmedic
* Life X
* Orcime
* IOL
* Brumed
* Strehl
* Intelimed
* Prohosp
* Tellus Rio Comércio e Importação e Exportação Ltda
* Elfa Produtos Hospitalares
* Atma Produtos Hospitalares
* Osteocare Serviços Médicos, Locação e Representação Ltda
* Signus do Brasil Comércio de Materiais Hospitalares Ltda
* Biotronik Comercial Médica Ltda
* Biomet
* Intraview
Like many other countries in South America, crime goes more or less unpunished.
Comments
In Brazil the industry is forbidden from giving money directly to physicians, so the bribe comes in the form of expenses paid to a cardiology congress at some tropical paradise. They also sponsor talks and things like that.
Orthopedists often take off-the-books kickbacks from physiotherapy clinics they recommend, Dermatologists take kickbacks from handling pharmacies for custom "hydrating lotions", and so on.
The worst case is the field of orthopedic prosthesis: it is controlled by a mob, the same gangsters control other surgical materials like the stents used for coronary angioplasty. A congressional committee investigated the issue and indicted 10 people from 16 companies:
Like many other countries in South America, crime goes more or less unpunished.