Free medicines for patients sold by syndicate; probe sought

Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim ordered Friday the investigation of a syndicate allegedly selling medicines and services that are supposed to be given  free to  patients  of six local government hospitals.

Lim said that by sabotaging  the city’s health program,  the group’s  activities had  deprived the right beneficiaries of medicine and services,  causing a deficit in  the government hospitals’ funds.

The mayor’s chief of staff and media bureau chief Ric de Guzman, who was tapped to lead the investigation, said  they would monitor all the patients in the six hospitals to help in identifying the syndicate members.

Ospital ng Maynila director Janet Tan earlier revealed that a syndicate was going around the six district hospitals looking for free medicines that they would later sell.

“A person would go to the Gat Andres Bonifacio Memorial Hospital, for example, for a medical checkup and ask for medicine and later transfer to the Ospital ng Tondo to avail of the same service free of charge.  The medicines that the syndicate would be able to gather will then be sold  outside the hospital,” she explained.

Members of the group who pose as patients usually change their identities.  They  later claim that another government hospital they had initially approached had refused to provide them free medicines, although these are already in their hands.

Justice Jose Abad Santos General Hospital director Teodoro Martin said he has already directed his staff to carefully screen their  patients after they discovered that a woman had  offered her services as an agent for pregnant women who want to deliver their babies for free at the hospital.

Martin said the agent makes a profit from the women, most of whom are not from Metro Manila, who pay for her services.

“This woman agent  even recruits pregnant women  and lets them use the Manila address of a friend to legitimize the free service.  She then asks them for  P1,500 as fee.”

He assured the public that the hospital directors are coordinating closely to put a stop to the syndicate’s  activities.