Academic fraud doctors swindled out of 5600 yuan by ghostwriters

by Michael Woodhead
Two doctors from Suzhou who tried to publish fake articles in medical journals found themselves to be the subject of fraud when their 'ghostwriters' pocketed 5600 yuan. 
The two doctors attempted to cheat on medical publishing requirements for promotion by getting an online 'writing agency' to write an article in their names and have it published in the "China Medicine" journal. The deception arose because in China it is necessary for doctors to get work published in journals in order to obtain advancement in their careers. The two Suzhou doctors felt they didn't have the time or the inspiration to do an article of their own, so they turned to an internet ghostwriting agency website that offered writing services for such situations. The website promised that an article could be written on a topic of their choice and published in the "China Medicine" journal. The doctors paid  2800 yuan and sent a list of suggestions for the article content.
At first the writing agency seemed very competent, and sent them a manuscript for their comments and revisions. The agency then asked them for a further 2800 yuan for publication fees. However, when the doctors sent the money, they never heard anything more from the online agency. When they checked the website of the China Medicine journal they found their article had not been published. They later found that the agency had a fake address and the phone had been disconnected. The  doctors reported the fraud to the police, but they were unable to track down the fraudsters. The police advised anyone thinking of publishing to check the publisher credentials.

Suzhou hospitals get real time online data monitoring for insurance and medication claims

The Suzhou social insurance fund has implemented an online real time data handling system for 43 hospitals that allows medical insurance claims and medication dispensing to be verified to enhance quality assurance and prevent fraud. The new system replaced the old manual input of claims data last year, and allows the health fund to collate medical insurance claims data alongside medication use and patient and hospital details. The system allows the social insurance centre managers to identify abnormal prescribing patterns and to give feedback directly to the hospital and the clinicians. For instance, in the first three months of operation data analysis has revealed that some male patients have been given medications for female medical problems and others have been given drugs for a different indication to the one for which they were being treated. The new system marks such anomalies with a red flag and gives feedback to the prescriber and to the hospital.
Source: Suzhou Daily