Former Deputy Minister Truong Quoc Cuong on trial in VN Pharma's fake drug case
Mr. Cuong and three former officials of the Drug Administration Department were accused of being irresponsible and abusing their power, leading to 838,100 boxes of fake drugs being licensed, inflated in price, and circulated.
After nearly 3 years of investigation by the authorities, on the morning of May 12, the Hanoi People's Court is scheduled to open a 6-day trial, with Judge Dao Ba Son as the presiding judge. 28 lawyers have registered to defend the 14 defendants, of which Mr. Truong Quoc Cuong has 6 lawyers.
Former Deputy Minister Cuong and 13 others were prosecuted in 3 groups of crimes:Lack of responsibility causing serious consequences, Abusing position and power while performing official dutiesandCounterfeit medicine is a drug.
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| Former Deputy Minister Truong Quoc Cuong. Photo: Ministry of Health |
The Hanoi People's Procuracy determined that in 2008-2010, Nguyen Le Xuan Khang (a Vietnamese citizen of Canadian nationality) discussed with Nguyen Minh Hung (former Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Director of VN Pharma Joint Stock Company) to falsify documents for drugs labeled Health 2000 Canada and ask two companies to apply for registration numbers.
Some officials of the Drug Administration Department, due to "lack of responsibility or personal motives", violated their duties during the appraisal and approval process. Therefore, 7 counterfeit drugs (Extrafovir; Kaderox-250; Kafotax-1000; MGP Axinex-1000, MGP Mosinase-625, H2K Levofloxacin and H2K Ciprofloxacin) bearing the Health 2000 Canada label were granted registration numbers, the authorities alleged.
From here, a large quantity of new drugs are traded and imported using many fake contracts, appendices and documents.
In this case, the total imported drug volume of 838,100 boxes, worth more than 1.2 million USD, equivalent to 26 billion VND, was inflated to more than 2.5 million USD, equivalent to 54 billion VND. The fake drugs were sold by VN Pharma to businesses, hospitals, and pharmacies in more than 600,000 boxes, illegally profiting more than 31.5 billion VND, the authorities alleged.
Mr. Truong Quoc Cuong (former Deputy Minister of Health), Le Dinh Thanh (former customs officer of Ho Chi Minh City) and Nguyen Viet Hung (former Deputy Director of the Drug Administration Department) were prosecuted for the crime of "Lack of responsibility causing serious consequences", according to Clause 2, Article 285, Penal Code 1999.Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy (former Deputy Head of the Drug Administration Department) and Pham Hong Chau (former Head of the Drug Registration Department) were prosecuted for the crime of "Abusing position and power while performing official duties", according to Clause 2, Article 281 of the 1999 Penal Code.Nguyen Minh Hung (former Chairman of the Board of Directors, General Director of VN Pharma Joint Stock Company) and Vo Manh Cuong (former Director of H&C Company) and 7 others were prosecuted for the crime of "Trading in counterfeit medicines", according to Article 157 of the 1999 Penal Code.Phase 1 of the counterfeit drug trafficking case that occurred at VN Pharma was tried at the People's Court of Ho Chi Minh City. Cuong was sentenced to 20 years in prison, Hung to 17 years; other defendants received sentences ranging from 3 years suspended to 12 years in prison for the charge of trafficking in counterfeit cancer drug, H-Capita 500 mg.
