PodcastHealth scandals in Turkey continue: 17 arrested for supplying prescription drugs as narcotics
In Turkey's Elazığ province, 40 individuals, including healthcare workers, were detained on charges of selling prescription drugs as narcotics to addicts while 17 of the suspects have been arrested.
Duvar English
In a drug operation conducted by gendarmerie teams in Turkey’s eastern Elazığ province, 17 suspects, including healthcare workers, have been arrested for illegally prescribing drugs to facilitate sales to substance abusers.
Following information that prescription drugs were being illegally prescribed and sold to substance abusers, the gendarmerie officers on May 28 launched an investigation. Initially, six suspects identified in the investigation were arrested and sent to prison on charges of "manufacturing and trafficking of narcotic or stimulant substances."
The "green prescriptions" in Turkey used for medications with potential for addiction and misuse such as alprazolam or diazepam, according to the Convention on Psychotropic Substances.
In the ongoing investigation, 34 more suspects were identified, including one doctor working at a private hospital, one pharmacist, and three pharmacy employees. In an operation conducted at 40 different addresses, 32 suspects were detained, including one in Istanbul and one in Tokat province.
Search efforts are still ongoing for two suspects.
This is not the first health scandal that stroke the country in the past months. An Istanbul prosecutor has recently indicted 47 people, including doctors and nurses, over the inappropriate treatment of babies for profit, causing the death of at least 12 newborns.
Workers filed complaint upon discovering newborn insurance scam in 2018, nurse saysHealth
Turkish health workers' insurance scam reportedly killed 12 newbornsHealth
License of former health minister's hospital revoked following newborn insurance scam in TurkeyHealth