On July 29th, the topic of “Receiving over 25 million RMB in bribes in 12 years, with nearly 6,000 RMB in bribes per day” by the former director of the Pharmacy Department at Zhengda Hospital was trending and sparked discussions.
On July 28th, the official website of the Chinese National Medical Insurance Administration released the case of “Zhang’s Bribery”, revealing a bribery case in the medical and pharmaceutical industry that lasted for over a decade.
According to a report by the Huashang Newspaper, Zhang, who formerly served as the director of the Pharmacy Department at Zhengzhou University’s First Affiliated Hospital, used his position overseeing drug and medical equipment procurement approvals to provide assistance to multiple pharmaceutical companies and salespersons. He illegally received cash, shopping cards, and other valuables totaling 25.475 million RMB and 10,000 USD, and was sentenced to 11 years in prison in the first instance.
The verdict indicated that Zhang’s largest bribe reached 24.33 million RMB. He colluded in advance with the Deputy Director of the hospital’s Pharmacy Department, Li, and the Deputy Dean, Wang (both handled separately), to assist in the entry and sales of drugs represented by Li in the hospital, agreeing to profit-sharing where Zhang would receive a one-third commission.
From June 2010 to August 2022, with his assistance, Li sold drugs such as Ceftriaxone Capsules and Ribonucleic Acid Injections in the hospital, totaling sales of 1.045 billion RMB and profits of over 73 million RMB. According to the agreement, Zhang was entitled to 24.33 million RMB. To avoid investigation, he instructed Li to hold the embezzled funds in custody and withdrew fees from it multiple times. The court determined that although the funds were held by others, Zhang had actual control and should be recognized as the beneficiary of bribery.
Additionally, from 2010 to 2022, Zhang also received bribes from multiple pharmaceutical companies and salespeople, totaling over 1 million RMB in cash, shopping cards, and other forms.
After the verdict, Zhang appealed. In September 2024, the Intermediate Court in Shangqiu, Henan, rejected the appeal and upheld the original judgment.
The exposure of this case has sparked discussions among mainland Chinese netizens.
Some netizens expressed their sighs, “How can a director of a hospital’s Pharmacy Department receive over 25 million RMB in bribes?”
Shandong Radio and Television Station’s “Express News” wrote that based on a rough calculation of the case timeline, Zhang received an average of nearly 6,000 RMB in bribes per day over the span of 12 years. He appeared as an expert on the surface but engaged in the trade of “pharmaceutical middlemen” in secret. Ignoring efficacy and focusing only on kickbacks, he sold the drugs of whoever offered more rebates. Every penny he greedily took away was money intended for saving lives of patients.