Paxlovid
Several pharmacies are said to have resold corona medication illegally
A pharmacy in Munich’s pedestrian zone – in Bavaria, the public prosecutor’s office is investigating several pharmacies
© Wolfgang Maria Weber / Imago Images
Quick help against severe corona cases: The Federal Ministry of Health is providing pharmacies with the drug Paxlovid free of charge. Several pharmacists are said to have enriched themselves from this.
The eight pharmacies in the focus of the investigation in Bavaria are said to have ordered up to 2,500 packs of the drug. The spokesman was initially unable to say on Monday how many of them might have been resold illegally. Around 70 investigators searched objects in Upper Bavaria, Middle Franconia, Upper Franconia and Upper Palatinate in mid-December. According to the information, they seized numerous documents. The suspects are presumed innocent.
According to information from WDR, NDR and “Süddeutscher Zeitung”, which previously reported on this, the Federal Ministry of Health filed criminal charges against pharmacists in more than 25 public prosecutor’s offices nationwide.
Pharmacies did not comply with Ministry of Health guidelines
According to the ZKG, the Federal Ministry of Health makes the drug available to pharmacies free of charge for patients. However, it may not be resold to third parties. The accused are said to have not adhered to this requirement. They are therefore suspected of embezzlement and violations of the Medicines Act are also possible.
The drug Paxlovid is intended to protect patients from a serious course of the disease in the event of an acute corona infection. Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) had high hopes for the drug in combination with vaccinations.
Paxlovid had been purchased in large quantities by the Federal Ministry of Health; a million packs were to be ready for 2022 alone, as it was said at the time.