BERLIN, July 6 (Xinhua) -- A German pharmacist has been sentenced to 12 years in prison on Friday for adulterating expensive cancer medications prescribed to his seriously-ill patients.
The Essen Higher Regional court found the 48-year-old guilty of illegally having of reaped a significant financial reward from the sale of the adulterated medicines. In addition to the 12-year prison sentence, the pharmacist was banned from assuming his profession again for the rest of his life.
"We are convinced that at least 14,500 medicines were sold below their correct dosage between 2012 and 2016", the verdict by judge Johannes Hidding read.
The court estimated the financial damage to Germany's public health insurance scheme at 17 million euros. The sum was used by the pharmacist to finance a luxurious lifestyle and must be confiscated by the German state, according to the verdict of Friday.
Hidding concluded that the primary motive behind the pharmacist's crimes had been "simple greed". The judge highlighted that conspicuous consumption played a "very big role" for the individual in question.
During the court proceedings, the suspect refused to comment on the accusations by prosecutors against him which were based on evidence obtained at a raid of his pharmacy in the town of Bottrop back in 2016. Authorities were first alerted to the situation by two employees of the pharmacist who were both subsequently awarded with the German Whistleblower Prize in 2017.
It still remains unclear in how many patients of the Bottrop pharmacist suffered a deterioration in their quality of life, or even succumbed to cancer, as a consequence of the adulterated chemo-therapy infusions they received. The case has been widely-described as one of the most serious medical scandal's in Germany's recent history.
