Deputy director 'forced' pharmacy staff to bring medicine into the hospital?

The Deputy Director of Children's Hospital 2 (HCMC) was accused of "forcing" employees to accept documents from a pharmaceutical company to bring drugs into the hospital.

Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health Nguyen Tan Binh has asked the leaders of Children's Hospital 2 to hold a meeting to review experiences and responsibilities of individuals involved in the case of Mr. THT - Deputy Director who was accused of "forcing" drugs from a pharmaceutical company into this hospital.

At the end of June, through the hotline, the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee received information and audio recordings of phone calls denouncing Mr. T.

Specifically, among these calls was a person claiming to be from NG Pharmaceutical Company, calling Ms. T. - an employee of the Hospital's Pharmacy Department to ask for "help" in guiding the delivery of drugs to the hospital when there was only one day left for the drug approval.

This person said he was introduced by the Deputy Director of the Hospital and "paid a fee" to the doctor to bring the medicine to the hospital.

In another call also to a female employee of the Pharmacy Department, a person who introduced himself as B. said that NG Pharmaceutical Company was the "backyard" of a leader who asked for help to bring medicine to Children's Hospital 2. Mr. B. also said he knew the deputy director of the hospital and said he would talk to the hospital director later.

Children's Hospital 2

There were also two other phone conversations allegedly between the Deputy Director of the Hospital and a female employee of the Pharmacy Department, asking this employee to make a list of additional drugs from the NG Pharmaceutical Company and submit it to the Hospital Director for approval.

When the female employee said that she had presented the list of drugs to the hospital director and the principle: drugs to be brought into the hospital must come from the recommendations of clinical departments, the Deputy Director thought that the employee was making things difficult for him and asked this employee to add the name of NG Company, he would take responsibility...

Immediately after receiving the directive, the City Department of Health's Inspection Team worked with individuals related to the recording and inspected the drug import process at Children's Hospital 2 pharmacy.

The Health Department Inspector concluded that the contents of the conversation in the recording were real and related to hospital staff. The phone call took place before the approval date of the drug list of the Children's Hospital 2 pharmacy.

Except for the person named B. who could not be identified, Ms. HTTT (Director of NG Pharmaceutical Company) did not confirm the phone call, the others (pharmacist T. - in charge of the pharmacy, Mr. T. - Deputy Director of the Hospital...) all admitted to having a phone conversation.

The Inspector of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health determined that, through verification, there is currently not enough basis to conclude that there was any negative impact in including NG's drugs in the list of approved drugs of the Hospital Pharmacy in 2016 (in fact, this list of drugs was not approved by the Council).

However, the Deputy Director of Children's Hospital 2's instructions over the phone about putting the drug on the approved list is not in accordance with the hospital's regulations. The way of talking to the staff (a slightly harsh tone) caused misunderstandings and created pressure for the listener.

The telephone conversation between female pharmacist T. and unknown people (Mr. B., Ms. T.) about drug testing activities at the hospital is not in accordance with regulations.

The Head of the Pharmacy Department of the Hospital - Unit has not given good advice to the Director in carrying out the Department's tasks.

Upon reaching this conclusion, Director of the Department of Health Nguyen Tan Binh directed the Director of Children's Hospital 2 to organize a meeting to review experiences and responsibilities of relevant individuals according to the comments and conclusions in the report of the Inspection Team. At the same time, a report on the results of handling and correcting shortcomings in the process of drug import and drug approval into the hospital pharmacy must be submitted within 10 working days from the date of receipt of the document requesting the review.

According to Vietnamnet.vn