Europe Pays High Healthcare Cost for Fraud, Including Fake Drugs

The European Union loses more than €50 billion each year because of healthcare fraud, including the provision of counterfeit medicines.

The European Healthcare Fraud and Corruption Network (EHFCN) recently revealed research at its annual conference in Brussels that fraud in the healthcare system is costing the European Union €50 billion each year, according to EurActiv Network.

Part of the reason for the high figure is low quality treatment, which is found throughout the continent. According to the EHFCN, this sort of treatment includes care given by unqualified doctors, forged receipts and certificates and counterfeit drugs.

The study, which was conducted in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Norway, Poland, Slovenia and Scotland, was able to identify 4,188 instances of alleged fraud.

The study also identified Belgium and Holland as having the highest rates of fraud. According to the researchers, these two countries had high rates of fraud because of their “pay for service” healthcare systems.

The researchers used the definition of fraud as it was established by a UK court case as a false statement “made knowingly, or without belief in its truth, or recklessly, careless whether it be true or false.”