Hospitals respond to brand abuse

Thanh Vu General Hospital in Bac Lieu - where Vietnam Refractive Joint Stock Company brings people for medical examination - Photo: CHI QUOC

On June 19, Ms. Dang Ngoc The - Director of Thanh Vu Medic Bac Lieu General Hospital - said that after receiving information from the people, the hospital conducted verification, terminated the contract with Vietnam Refractive Joint Stock Company, and sent a notice to the Bac Lieu Provincial Department of Health and the police to confirm that the hospital was not involved in taking advantage of medical examination and treatment to sell drugs and functional foods of unknown origin to the people.

Make people mistakenly think that the hospital sells medicine on the bus

According to Ms. Ngoc The, Thanh Vu Medic Bac Lieu General Hospital has signed a contract with Vietnam Refractive Joint Stock Company to provide periodic health check-up services for customers with the following contents: the first phase will be physical and eye examination, the second phase will be breast cancer screening (for women) and prostate cancer screening (for men).

This examination will be carried out in three locations: Ca Mau (examination at Thanh Vu Medic Bac Lieu General Hospital branch in Ca Mau), Bac Lieu and Soc Trang will examine at two facilities of Thanh Vu Medic Bac Lieu General Hospital (abbreviated as Thanh Vu Hospital) in Bac Lieu province.

"The contract with the hospital is simply to examine the health of customers. However, Vietnam Refractive Joint Stock Company informed the people that the company cooperated with Thanh Vu Hospital to provide free eye examinations and then transacted with their customers through selling medicine and functional foods. This is a phenomenon of taking advantage of the hospital brand to conduct drug sales according to their direction.

Realizing that this was an abuse of the brand and a form of deception, the hospital sent a notice to terminate the contract with Vietnam Refractive Joint Stock Company and requested that the company be responsible for explaining the information "cooperating with Thanh Vu Hospital to provide free examinations". If they do not respond or explain, the hospital will take legal action.

The hospital also sent a document to the Department of Health of Bac Lieu province and the Police of Ward 7 (Bac Lieu City) - where Vietnam Refractive Joint Stock Company is about to open - to get information," said Ms. The.

Is there any "cheating" to profit from selling drugs?

According to Ms. The, currently, Thanh Vu Hospital has explained to the people about the cases where people were forced to buy medicine and functional foods, but the problem is that the hospital has not yet grasped how many cases have been "involved" in this, so it cannot explain everything.

Informing reporters further, Mr. Lam Quoc Na - Deputy Director of Thanh Vu Hospital - said that the hospital has received information about forcing customers to buy medicine and functional foods as mentioned above, mainly in remote communes of Nga Nam town (Soc Trang province).

Specifically, on average, every day, a car carries 60 people to the hospital for eye examinations, and Vietnam Refractive Joint Stock Company will guide them along the flow, and after the examination, they will take them home.

However, when the bus returned, these people were made difficult and forced to buy red pine oil. On the bus, they received an open letter without a signature stating that they were cooperating with Thanh Vu Hospital to provide free eye examinations and then sell red pine oil. Anyone who did not buy would be taken for a ride.

In response to this incident, Vietnam Refractive Joint Stock Company sent a document to Thanh Vu Hospital. Accordingly, the company said that this unit specializes in distributing pharmaceuticals at counters and pharmacies nationwide. On the occasion of the opening of the business location in Bac Lieu, the company offered customers a medical examination package at Thanh Vu Hospital.

After the examination, the company invites customers to the business location to visit the booth and those who want to buy can register.

Also in this document, Vietnam Refractive Joint Stock Company agreed to terminate the contract with Thanh Vu Hospital, however, the company did not agree with the hospital's conclusion that the company had used the hospital's image and brand for business profit.

Reflect the incident widely for people to understand

Mr. Lam Quoc Na - Deputy Director of Thanh Vu Hospital - said that there were some cases where people posted on social networks about being forced to buy medicine when going to the hospital as mentioned above, then Vietnam Refractive Joint Stock Company contacted them to refund the money.

Thanh Vu General Hospital has verified and recorded the incidents reported by customers. In addition to sending a petition to the Department of Health and the police to report, Thanh Vu Hospital also announced on the television stations of Soc Trang and Bac Lieu so that people can clearly understand the incident.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/benh-vien-phan-ung-vi-bi-loi-dung-thuong-hieu-20240624081424961.htm