Bribes to pharmaceutical companies, nine indictments
Nine indictments and one acquittal in the preliminary hearing held today before the investigating judge of the Court of Chieti Andrea Di Berardino as part of an investigation into alleged bribes paid by pharmaceutical companies to obtain prescriptions for products such as milk and supplements.
Network 8 – Fabio Lo Russo – 30 January 2020
The ex head physician of the neonatology department of the Chieti hospital Giuseppe Sabatino ended up in court, from which the story started, and some of scientific informants and managers of two pharmaceutical companies or Gabriele Bellia, Michele Nikpali, Sergio Di Felice, Antonio De Panfilis, Gaetano Capobianco, Luigi Leccese. The pharmaceutical companies Sooft Italia e 
Human Italy. The trial has been set for May 5th.
The Gup also acquitted, again from the charge of corruption, because the fact does not exist, Valerio Flacco, former head of Pediatrics at the Lanciano hospital. For the doctor, defended by the lawyer Vincenzo Di Girolamo, and who chose the abbreviated procedure, the prosecutor Lucia Campo had asked for a sentence of two years and two months' imprisonment.
Among the accusations against Sabatino is that of having unduly accepted from three scientific informants the sum of 10 thousand euros, by way of purchase of 500 copies of a book in order to prescribe supplements produced by the same pharmaceutical company. The alleged donations of money especially to Sabatino came to light during the investigations conducted on the latter in 2014 and which led to the accusation against him of sexual violence against the mothers of some of his young patients.
Ed: As far as we know, no drug has been the subject of the investigation by the magistrates of Chieti. Once again, drug sales representatives are confused with sellers of baby milk and vitamins.
Pharmaceutical Representatives are the only ones who can provide scientific information on prescription drugs to doctors and pharmacists (to the latter limited and only to the information contained in the summary of the drug characteristics, not the sale) according to the Legislative Decree, 219/06 (Article 119 and subsequent).
The salesmen and sales representative agents, with all the respect due to every honest worker and every profession, are not Pharmaceutical Representatives.
We repeat for the umpteenth time that infant formula is not a drug. The commercial agents who sell the baby milk are not scientific representatives of the drug.
