(Yicai Global) Aug. 10 -- Most corruption in Chinese public hospitals is about drugs and medical devices, and bribes are the most common form of fraud, according to an academic paper based on more than 2,000 cases.

The conclusion is from a paper that was published in the third issue of the Chinese Health Service Management 2023. It analyzed around 2,000 verdicts involving medical corruption in China from 2013 to 2021. 

Corruption in hospitals includes bribery, embezzlement of assets, and embezzlement of duties. Bribery accounts for more than 90 percent of the total. Hospital workers accept cash, vouchers, and trips from medical representatives, patients' families, fund companies, and insurers, per the paper.

Graft is common particularly in the fields of medical devices and pharmaceuticals because hospitals have a high demand for these products that are quite profitable. But the group also includes cases regarding consumables, insurance, and medical infrastructure.

Xu Yucai, a medical reform expert, told Yicai that China has been trying to stop corruption in the medical sector for over a decade but it still exists and there is a momentum of expansion and concealment. Fraud is extensive in several aspects including procurement, sales of medicines, construction engineering, and the selection of staff.

Xu said that some associations use pharmaceutical sponsorship to arrange academic activities, a hidden form of corruption. Yicai learned that some hospitals require doctors to hand in the fees they receive from lectures, training, and seminars.

The situation shows that the market is not perfect yet and the rule of law needs to be improved, Xu said, adding that the next step is to prevent corruption in the long term and to further purify the atmosphere.

Editor: Emmi Laine