Bm s – Talk Vietnam

Bach Mai Hospital Last Monday, a visitor was making his daily rush to the canteen of Bach Mai Hospital, where a relative is being treated, to queue up to get her dinner. Already having to deal with the stress of caring for a loved one in hospital, the murmurings over price hikes in medical devices – and therefore higher hospital fees – has only depressed the visitor further. “I am so disappointed. We do not know whether other similar violations will be uncovered. It is a pain for those of us who are struggling to cover hospital fees,” he said. “There must be strict punishments to deter any future cases.” He is among many Vietnamese people displaying their disgust at the alleged wrongdoings at Bach Mai Hospital, which has seen patients potentially conned out of up to VND10 billion ($435,000). Some had to simply give up treatment because of unexpected sky-high fees. After the VN Pharma scandal – in which 12 defendants were charged last year with manufacturing and trading counterfeit medicines, including fake cancer drugs – the healthcare sector has been shaken up yet again. The Investigation Agency under the Ministry of Public Security (MoPS) arrested the leaders of BMS Medical technology JSC and Hanoi Valuation and Financial Services JSC (VFS), who are said to have colluded with others to illegally raise the prices of medical devices in the Bach Mai-BMS cooperation contract. The MoPS is currently expanding the investigation while the Ministry of Health (MoH) has set up a price appraisal team to work out adjustments at state-run hospitals, with many services set to reduce prices and a decree on cooperation contracts forthcoming. Last week, the MoH launched a portal to publish the price of medical devices. Nguyen Thanh Long, acting MoH Minister said, “The publication of prices and configuration of medical devices, as well as the winning prize of tenders of medical equipment packages on the portal, will increase …