Adonis Georgiadis referred to the case of 10 doctors who were illegal, highlighting the serious problem of overprescribing and the abusive exploitation of the electronic prescription system in Greece. The most characteristic ones were the one with a doctor who was fined 800,000 euros because he used his mother’s AMKA to prescribe thousands of antipsychotic drugs and a female doctor in Mytilini who only prescribed dawn for her husband and daughter, even forcing Adonis Georgiadis to call her himself.
Regarding the case in Mytilini, during a press conference, Mr. Georgiadis revealed that he followed the particular tactic of prescribing only evening hours between 9:00 PM and 4:00 AM. She herself had “written” a total of 705 compositions and 1,818 pieces to her husband, their two daughters and herself. In fact, Mr. Georgiadis personally dealt with this case since, as he said, he himself called her on the phone, after he was impressed that she had prescribed 3 different statins for her 15-year-old daughter.
“I told her I’m 53 and on a statin, she said she has a very rare condition but it won’t happen again. She herself had prescribed medicines to a foreign technician who had come for a concert on the island and must have left with 1,000 pieces”, revealed Mr. Georgiadis.
Earlier, speaking to SKAI, he mentioned the case of a doctor who was fined 800,000 euros because he prescribed thousands of antipsychotic drugs in just one month using his mother’s AMKA. “This doctor with the fine of 800,000 euros had disappeared and we could not make the imputation because he knew that he could not justify himself” added Mr. Georgiadis.
Afterwards, Mr. Georgiadis, during the press conference he gave to the Ministry of Health, spoke at length about the cases of doctors overprescribing. “We identified 100 doctors who in the first 8 months of 2024 prescribed 250 to 422 different drugs per patient. This means that each of these patients received from 250 to 1,600 pieces of medicine,” said Mr. Georgiadis.
Speaking about this, the Minister of Health announced the 10 most typical cases identified only for the first 8 months of 2024:
– Pathologist at Glyfada she wrote 221 prescriptions with 1,121 pieces to her mother and all were performed at the same pharmacy.
– Pathologist in a health center in Mytilene who only prescribed evening hours from 9 pm to 4 am, wrote 705 formulations and 1,818 pieces to her husband, their two daughters and herself.
– Cardiologist in Nea Mechanized wrote to two foreigners 500 compositions and 925 pieces
– Doctor wrote 704 pieces performed in a relative patient’s pharmacy
– Pathologist in Athens wrote 362 prescriptions to a patient that were filled in a pharmacy of the patient’s relative
– Pediatrician at Thessaloniki wrote 300 formulations and 1350 units to 4 children who are members of a sports club by filling all prescriptions in a central pharmacy
– Psychiatrist in Athens wrote 980 pieces of medicine
– Orthopedic in Patras wrote 1060 pieces on anti-inflammatory
– Dermatologist at Heraklion he wrote 275 medicines and 1,500 pieces
– Gynecologist at Larissa wrote 200 drugs and 1,100 pieces offering specialized care to pregnant and menopausal women
As the Minister of Health clarified, these doctors have been excluded from electronic prescribing while the investigation continues.
Intensive checks
Mr. Georgiadis explained that “we are doing checks through IDIKA and EOPYY, we have already sent notes for apologies and we have sent the cases to the financial prosecutor because there will also be criminal sanctions”.
In this context, the Minister of Health announced that “the control will be done retroactively and backwards” adding that “according to estimates, at least 50 million euros are the drugs that are written every year in EOPYY without having to be written”. “My mood is not punitive but to bring order. I am very sorry when in plain sight some bad doctors use e-prescribing in such an unfair and irresponsible way. This system can become a blank checkbook for a doctor who can use it for his own benefit,” said Mr. Georgiadis. “The effort we have been making in recent months for the waste of money and unjust enrichment is multi-layered and is done on the one hand through IDIKA in the first year and then thoroughly by EOPYY” he added.
“I don’t blame the pharmacies because the pharmacist is obliged to carry out a prescription once it has been prescribed. But if a pharmacist sees that a doctor is prescribing the same drugs for the same patient, he should inform the EOPYY. It’s not a snitch but a joint effort to tackle the problem of overprescribing,” he said.
“In the 100 new cases of doctors with overprescribing we found that in the first 8 months of 2024 they wrote 250 to 422 different drugs per patient. This means that each of these patients received between 250 and 1,600 pieces of medicine. There is no person who takes such a quantity and does not greet this vain world”, announced the Minister of Health.
“It’s real nonsense for doctors to do this now that data is accessible in real time. And we can go back to the first day of electronic prescribing and these 100 will be checked retrospectively.” “Stop doing it, we’ll catch you all,” added Mr. Georgiadis
#Overprescriptions #shocking #cases
