Chinese regulators are clamping down on sweetheart deals between drug and medical device manufacturers and hospitals, in an effort to deter corruption that they fear undercuts the quality of the country’s healthcare.
Among the actions taken in recent months are legal proceedings undertaken against the provincial manager of a drug company who sought to hike sales of an anesthetic by offering millions of dollars in bribes to authorities in three hospitals.
The legal action follows moves by the National Healthcare Security Administration to hike the oversight of pharmaceutical companies by instituting a system that denies marketing rights to companies who have engaged in improper conduct. Last year a number of government agencies, the National Health Commission among them, joined forces to announce they would take significant new steps against drug and device manufacturers and medical professionals found to be colluding.