Skip to main content

Medical Fraud: How Nigerian Doctors, hospitals Extorts Sick patients

Medical Fraud: How Nigerian Doctors, hospitals Extorts Sick patients




 Investigation has exposed a massive referral kickback scheme showing how the country’s top diagnostic service providers, medical doctors and hospitals steal billions of naira yearly from unsuspecting patients who pay for healthcare out-of-pocket.

During the 20-month undercover investigation, a  journalist with Premium Times posing as a doctor referred several persons to leading diagnostic centres for medical tests.

Premium Times uncovered the costs of the tests as well as funded the patients’ transportation to the laboratories.

Premeum Times reports that Almost all the labs paid kickbacks of between 10 per cent and 20 per cent of the cost of each test conducted. None of them tried to verify if the reporter was indeed a doctor as he claimed.

One medical laboratory service provider even gives doctors loyalty tokens for every referral sent to it, which doctors can use to purchase telephone recharge cards, utility bills, spa, and vacations. 

The loyal tokens also qualify doctors to obtain car loans and mortgages backed by the diagnostic firm.

This fraudulent kickback scheme does not only contravene extant regulations, it also places an additional financial burden on sick Nigerians 90 per cent of who pay for medical expenses out of pocket.

“We are shocked by the outcome of this investigation,” said Managing Editor Premium Times, Idris Akinbajo. “We hope that relevant authorities will act swiftly to halt this bribery that is clearly overburdening patients and endangering health care in our country.”


Credit, source: Premium Times

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Steer Clear from Tompolo's Pipeline Surveillance Job, Face Your Olu's Contract... Activist Warn Itsekiri Leaders

Steer Clear from Tompolo's  Pipeline Surveillance Job, Face Your Olu's Contract... Activist Warn Itsekiri Leaders  Niger Delta Human Rights Activist, comrade Daniel Ezekiel has berated ltsekiri leaders for calling on  the Federal Government to decentralize the pipeline security contract awarded to the Niger Delta living legend, High Chief Government Ekpemukpolo alias Tompolo. The activist in a statement to FocalPoint Reports, on Thursday, reacted with displeasure and strongly condemned Itsekiri leaders Who were led by Hon. Michael Diden to call for the decentralization of Tompolo's Surveillance contract, during a visit to High Chief Bibopere Ajube (Shoot-at-sight) at his Agadagba-Obon, residence in Ese-Odo Local Government Area of Ondo State,  Ezekiel Daniel described those who visited Bibopere Ajube as self-proclaimed Itsekiri leaders and their voices are nothing good but mere distractions and should not be taken seriously. He added that the statements m...
1 comment
Read more

NMU Governing Council chairman seeks solutions to challenges facing varsity

NMU Governing Council chairman seeks solutions to challenges facing varsity The Acting Chairman of the Governing Council of the Nigerian Maritime University, Okerenkoko, Delta State,  Adewale Adeogun, has appealed for immediate action to address the pressing challenges facing the institution.   Adeogun, who spoke during the council meeting  in Warri, expressed deep concern over the university’s underdevelopment despite its six-year existence. Highlighting the urgent need for government intervention, Adeogun emphasised the importance of establishing a permanent campus and ensuring adequate funding.  He pointed out that the university’s progress has been hindered by the suspension of projects initiated by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA). “It is disheartening to see that despite being a specialised university, Nigerian Maritime University is still struggling to find its footing,” Adeogun stated. “We must work tirelessly to secure gov...
Post a Comment
Read more

Retired police officers protest over unpaid pensions

Some retired police officers under the contributory pension scheme on Tuesday, May 21, protested at the National Assembly over alleged several months of unpaid pensions with a call on President Bola Tinubu to remove them from the scheme. The protesters decried the extreme challenges they endure, saying that the National Pension Commission (PENCOM) has failed to pay their entitlements for several months causing them and their families untold hardship. The aggrieved retired police officers also wrote a Save Our Soul (SOS) letter to the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, calling for an urgent intervention. Speaking on behalf of the protesters, Chairman of the retirees, Christopher Effiong said many of their members have developed terminal illnesses and heart attacks as a result of the frustration associated with the scheme. In a letter dated May 21 and addressed to Senate President Godswill Akpabio, the retirees said many of their colleagues have lost their lives due to t...
Post a Comment
Read more