Italian Drug Industry Drawn Into VortexOf Scandals

Arrests of 18 drug industry managers and doctors in Sicily and others in several Italian cities have begun to have an impact on international drugmakers active in Italy. The managers and doctors are accused of selling diagnostic equipment and related reagents to the Italian health service at prices three to four times above normal.

Subsidiaries of German companies are said to be affected, but Bayer SpA in Milan has denied any involvement. Bayer says it will wait to see what evidence the State Prosecutor's office produces and will protect its interests through legal means. Two Bayer sales directors are among those arrested, as are four of Boehringer Mannheim's staff, directors of Beckman, Dasit and the civic hospital of Palermo.

Total Italian health service losses through the scandal are reported to have reached 1 billion lire ($639,000), in Sicily alone. The accountant for the Sicilian regional administration, Concetta Cimino, is said to have uncovered the racket, and as a result she has been under police protection for the past several months.