Mahavir hospital engulfed in multimillion medicine scam, two senior doctors fired for their involvement

Surat (Gujarat) : A multimillion medicine scam committed over the course of five years by a cohort consisting of two senior doctors, a pharmacist, and the head of the hospital’s information technology department has engulfed the Mahavir super speciality hospital in Surat in controversy. The entire scam was uncovered by an internal investigation committee of the hospital trustees, who promptly fired anyone they suspected of involvement.

The Mahavir Super-Specialty Hospital is the largest hospital in southern Gujarat, and it is run by a charitable trust. Over the years, the hospital has relied on donations from both its trustees and its members to keep its doors open.

Samna Daily reports that the two medical stores at Mahavir Hospital have a monthly revenue of crores of rupees. The hospital is making a lot of money off of the sale of medicines and non-surgical items thanks to the generous commissions they receive.

Together with the hospital’s pharmacist and the head of the information technology department, the two senior doctors in question conspired to set up about 12 fake accounts into which they could funnel the hefty commission income they were mainly owing from the pharmaceutical companies that supplied the pharmacy with medicines and non-surgical items. Over the past five years, the doctors have amassed a staggering Rs 3 crore in ill-gotten commissions from the use of the sham accounts.

Pharmaceutical firms were offering a 40% commission on non-surgical supplies and medications. While the rest of the commission was deposited into the actual hospital accounts, the doctors, pharmacists, and IT manager all used to transfer 20% of their commission into the fake ones.

A senior doctor who decided to blow the whistle on the scam helped alert the board of directors at the hospital. Rupaben Mehta, Mitaben Shah, and Shyamji Agarwal, three trustees, formed an investigation committee. After the committee discovered the plan, the two doctors, pharmacist, and IT director were all fired.

Notably, the trustees of Mahavir Hospital have not yet contacted law enforcement about filing charges against the hospital’s top doctors, pharmacist, and IT director.