PATRA, Greece, Aug. 20 (UPI) -- A Greek appeals court upheld the convictions of two men found to have illegally prescribed unneeded in vitro fertilization drugs, documents show.
Vassilis Tsigounis, director of the gynecology and maternity clinic at the University Hospital of Patra, was sentenced to 10 years and five months in jail and his assistant, Thanassis Pappas, received a term of 12 years and five months after both were found guilty of fraud and forgery in 2008, eKathimerini reported Friday.
The TEVE pension fund began an investigation in 2001 after officials noticed a dramatic increase in the number of prescriptions in Patra for a certain drug.
Pappas became the subject of an internal investigation after being beaten up by a relative of one of his patients.
The investigation revealed Pappas was not a member of the Medical Association and did not have a medical license and had been working at the University Hospital of Patra since 1997, eKathimerini said.
Tsigounis alibied Pappas's presence, saying he was the doctor's researcher. UPI
