Deputy Minister of Health Truong Quoc Cuong accused of causing damage of more than 50 billion VND

On November 11, Mr. Cuong, Le Dinh Thanh (former officer of Ho Chi Minh City Customs) and Nguyen Viet Hung (former Deputy Director of Drug Administration) were proposed by the Ministry of Public Security's Security Investigation Agency to be prosecuted for the crime.Lack of responsibility causes serious consequencesaccording to Clause 3, Article 360 ​​of the Penal Code.

Mr. Cuong was determined to have committed violations while serving as Director of the Drug Administration Department (Ministry of Health) from 2007 to 2016. 7 days ago, he was prosecuted.

Nine others were recommended for prosecution for the crime.Trading in counterfeit medicines,including 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).

Defendants Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy (former Deputy Head of the Drug Administration Department) and Pham Hong Chau (former Head of the Drug Registration Department of the Drug Administration Department) were proposed to be prosecuted for the crime ofTaking advantage of position and power while performing official duties.

Mr. Cuong directed the verification and provided information to the Ministry of Public Security to coordinate the verification and direct the temporary suspension of import with Health 2000. However, he did not promptly suspend the circulation and recall the drug, showing signs of not fulfilling his responsibilities as Director of the Drug Administration Department, allowing 4/7 types of drugs labeled Health 2000 to continue to be used for treatment, with a total value of over 3.7 billion VND.

As Director of the Drug Administration and Permanent Vice Chairman of the Drug Review Council, Mr. Cuong was determined to be responsible as the head for violations in the appraisal and approval of two drug batch files, causing a loss of 50.6 billion VND.

During the investigation, Mr. Cuong was recognized for his cooperative attitude, honest confession, and responsibility as the leader for the violations at the Department. He has many achievements in his work at the Ministry of Health and has been awarded many medals, certificates of merit by the State and the Government, so the investigation agency proposed to apply mitigating measures.

According to the investigation agency, the regulations of the pharmaceutical law and the Ministry of Health on cases requiring recall in 2014 still had many shortcomings. The results of verification at the Department of Health of 63 provinces and cities showed that there was no information about the Health 2000-labeled drugs being fake or low-quality drugs affecting the health of users. The test results of 3/7 Health 2000-labeled drugs at the Central Drug Testing Institute and the Ho Chi Minh City Drug Testing Institute all determined that they met the quality standards.

With the function of state management in the pharmaceutical sector, the Department has proactively verified Canadian Pharmaceutical Companies, including Health 2000. In 2019, after Canada's mutual legal assistance results determined that Heath did not have a manufacturing plant in this country, the investigation agency initiated a criminal case of trafficking in counterfeit medicines.

Previously, the first phase of the counterfeit drug trafficking case at VN Pharma was tried at the People's Court of Ho Chi Minh City. Vo Manh Cuong was sentenced to 20 years in prison, Nguyen Minh 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 drugs, H-Capita 500 mg.