Hungarian doctor convicted for demanding an ever-rising amount of tip after surgeries

The corrupt surgeon received 2 years in prison, and the Curia of Hungary restricted him from participating in public affairs and practising as a doctor for 3 years.

According to Index, the doctor was working as the orthopaedic surgeon of a big Budapest hospital. However, to supplement his income, he demanded tips from his patients. It happened sometimes that he did not even accept the sum a patient offered and demanded more to do a given surgery.

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The doctor said in a case that he would spend the offered EUR 100 in minutes at the bars at night, and when they offered him more than EUR 150, he said that it was not enough either since he travelled from Lake Balaton each day. There was a patient who he told before the surgery “how much” it would cost while there was another victim who he told only after the operation

how much he would prefer to receive in return to the work done.

It happened once that the doctor drew the attention of a patient to the fact that he had to return to remove the stitches and that others pay more to him for his work. He even offered a patient to pay the tip in instalments. Another victim wanted to offer a very precious book, but the doctor said he would prefer money instead of it since he cannot buy the things he needs with the book.

The court of first instance sentenced him to

2 years in prison,

but the appeal court eased and suspended it. The Public Prosecutor’s Office of Budapest did not accept that and turned to the Curia, which approved the first sentence.

They said that the hospital determines the price of the surgeries for which the patient or the health insurance pays. However, if a head physician demands money from the patients, it is a more serious crime since he is an independent entity in the structure of the healthcare institution.  

Source: index.hu