Pharmacist couple in court: illegal Paxlovid sale uncovered!

Pharmacist couple in court: illegal Paxlovid sale uncovered!

Innsbruck, Österreich - A pair of pharmacists is related to the Corona medication Paxlovid due to suspected fraud in Tyrol. According to Kleine Zeitung , the initial pharmacy assistant has ordered at least 2,500 packs of this drug since the end of December 2022. Paxlovid, intended for patients with a difficult course in the winter of 2022/2023, was quickly out of print nationwide.

However, the defendant's order was ordered without a legitimate occasion, since it lacked prescriptions for sick patients. It is believed that he sent the packs to China for a fee, for which he is said to have received around 20,000 euros in cash. How many packs were actually sold to China remains unclear, but 450 packs have been returned after the medication supplier asked about the nationwide wrong stock.

Investigations and criminal complaints

The Federal Ministry of Health has already filed advertisements against several pharmacists who are suspected of having illegally resold Paxlovid. As part of the investigation, more than 25 pharmacists in Germany were identified, some of which ordered over 1,000 packs of the medication. In Bavaria and Berlin in particular, extensive searches were carried out in which unusually high order quantities were found. A pharmacy in Frankfurt am Main even ordered almost 10,000 packs of Paxlovid, which made listening. According to Tagesschau , the estimated damage amounts to around three million euros for the Berlin public prosecutor.

The laws are clear: the sale of Paxlovid to third parties is prohibited, and pharmacists could make embezzlement and further violations of the Medicinal Products Act punishable. From January 15, 2024, the medication will be sold directly by Pfizer, and the costs will be borne by the health insurance companies in the future, whereby the price will be set to 1,149.19 euros per package.

paxlovid at a glance

PAXLOVID was provided by the Federal Government free of charge to pharmacies. In 2022, the Federal Government acquired one million packs of the Pfizer drug. In particular, it is designed to prevent serious illnesses in acute corona infections. However, critics, such as pharmacist Max Wilke, expressed concerns about the high order quantities, since their pharmacies laid down hardly more than 30 packs in the previous year, which questions the need for such orders, as well as pharmacies Umschau reported.