University hospital professors who received hundreds of millions of won in kickbacks from a medical device manufacturer in exchange for using their products have been sent to trial.
The Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office announced today (July 30) that it has indicted six university hospital professors without detention on charges including violations of the Medical Service Act.
Xenos, a medical device manufacturer, along with its CEO and a former director, were also indicted without detention on charges of providing the kickbacks.
Xenos and its leadership are accused of proposing "post-marketing clinical trials" to university hospitals to promote the sales of their cardiovascular stent products, and subsequently handing out a total of 4.2 billion won in kickbacks disguised as research funding for these trials to the hospitals and professors.
According to prosecutors, Xenos paid up to 1.15 million won in research funding for each registered patient whenever a hospital performed procedures using its product and registered the patient as a clinical study subject.
The university hospital professors are accused of pocketing illegal support funds disguised as research grants ranging from 40 million won to 400 million won from the company.
A cardiology professor at one university hospital is also accused of establishing a sales agency corporation under his wife's name and receiving approximately 780 million won in sales commissions despite performing no actual work.
Prosecutors stated that some of the doctors who received kickbacks shared economic ties with the company, such as holding its unlisted shares.
Previously, in July 2024, the Fair Trade Commission issued a corrective order against Xenos for such illegal customer inducement practices and imposed a fine of approximately 290 million won.
Subsequently, the Ministry of Health and Welfare requested an investigation into Xenos by prosecutors, and the Western District Prosecutors' Office launched an investigation in April by raiding the university hospitals in question.
(Reported by Kim Jiuk | Video by Jung Yong-hee | Graphics by Lee Su-min | Produced by SBS Digital News)
※
Copying, redistribution, and unauthorized use in AI training are strictly prohibited.