Overview
- A Vigo emergency-room doctor accepted the sentence at a plea hearing this Tuesday, receiving one year, one month and 15 days in prison whose execution was suspended under conditions.
- The court also imposed a one-year professional disqualification and a monetary penalty as part of the negotiated agreement with the prosecutor.
- Prosecutors say the doctor took a colleague’s prescription book and seal, forged up to five prescriptions and collected Rubifen, desxketoprofeno, lorazepam and diazepam from pharmacies.
- Judges applied mitigating factors after the defendant paid compensation to the colleague and was found to have a diagnosed personality disorder with ADHD symptoms, which reduced the original exposure to a longer sentence.
- The case highlights gaps in hospital prescription security and is likely to prompt tighter oversight of controlled-prescription handling while the defendant’s suspended term ties future liberty to rehabilitation and full civil payment.