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Three executives of the Traiber companies and nine doctors are suspected of having collected illegal commissions
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36 of those affected were operated on at the Sant Joan de Reus hospital
The Reus judge investigating the ‘Innova case’ of alleged corruption has imposed a civil bond of 23 million euros to cover the eventual compensation of 48 affected by the placement of the expired and defective medical prostheses of the Traiber brand. The Sant Joan de Reus hospital concentrates 36 of these patients, while the rest are distributed throughout Catalonia, although there is one case in Aragon (Montpellier Clinic in Zaragoza). The togado offers 15 days to deposit that amount, although his decision can be appealed, as it possibly will.
Of the 23 million euros, three directors of the Traiber company and the nine doctors who allegedly charge illegal commissions for implanting these prostheses must respond, but also the Spanish Agency for Medicines. CatSalut, the Institut Català de la Salut (ICS) and the insurer Zurich will respond for 22.5 million euros (those harmed in Catalonia). Up to seven hospitals, the Reus City Council and the Sagessa Group for health care also appear on the list of civil officials. In the event that an entity puts all the deposit, the rest will not have to.
The accused doctors
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The judge is investigating whether these seven doctors charged alleged illegal commissions “and some of them even participated in the pressure on the contracting authorities to put the Traiber prostheses improperly,” according to the order. At the beginning of the investigation, the court indicted more than 50 doctors, all of whom appeared in the seized documentation, but 40 were exonerated and seven are still charged. In one of the registries, a significant number of “disused” prostheses were intervened. A later report revealed that the company sold “polyethylene implants”, especially hip and knee implants, which had expired.
The magistrate highlights in his resolution that neither the Spanish Medicines Agency nor the Generalitat had “never” inspected the company. “It is necessary to investigate whether, in this case, the public authorities left all those patients who received a prosthesis in poor condition helpless,” says the judge, while recalling that the prostheses were not placed in a “chiringuito” or a “basement secretly”, but in hospitals such as Sant Joan de Reus.
Reference-www.elperiodico.com