Lenses for cataract operations stolen from the hospital and made to pay for by unsuspecting patients who underwent surgery in the professional’s private office. This is what emerged from the investigations which led to the issuing, in Catanzaro, of four interdictory measures against a medical director of the ophthalmology department of the “Renato Dulbecco” university hospital in Catanzaro, two nurses and an entrepreneur of the medical sector.
The precautionary measures were issued at the end of an investigation conducted over the last two years by the Nas and the Fiamme Gialle, with the coordination of the Catanzaro Prosecutor’s Office, and during which the professional and the two nurses ended up under the magnifying glass as regards the carrying out of freelance professional activity outside the Catanzaro hospital.
According to what emerged, a partnership was created dedicated to the fraudulent theft of materials and instruments of all kinds from the departments of the Pugliese hospital to supply the doctor’s private practice, with the two nurses as the operational arm. Already in November 2022 and then in May last year, the recipients of the measures had been subjected to searches, following which all the stolen material and further sources of evidence would have been secured.
The value of the stolen material, which was self-recycled, and then justified through false invoices issued by the trusted entrepreneur to justify the availability of medical devices and materials stolen from the company, is estimated at several thousand euros. We are now awaiting the decisions of the company’s General Management following the notification of the interdictory measure against the three employees.