Infarmed, the national medicines authority, has opened a national inquiry into an elaborate scheme to import illegal flu vaccines from Spain.
The scheme has raised particular concerns as it doesn’t comply with safety guidelines over transportation temperatures, reports Lusa news agency – inferring this means it may well not work, and will thus cost the health service dearly.
This is just the latest twist in a much larger fraud, reported in the Algarve Resident last week, and centring on a group of doctors and pharmacists working from practices in Lisbon and the Algarve.
Operation “Consulta Vicentina” involves a number of frauds, says Lusa, with “elevated” costs. Last week, Correio da Manhã put the levels at well over €100 million euros.
The alert over flu vaccines comes at a time when, nationally, pharmacies are rapidly running through stocks.
As Infarmed investigates, Lusa adds the authority will also be looking into other alleged frauds perpetrated through the “Consulta Vicentina” network.
