Fake 'Lyrica' prescriptions, Bahraini doctor's appeal rejected by court

Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

A renowned Bahraini doctor and his accomplices who were earlier convicted in a vast narcotics peddling case had their final appeal against imprisonment rejected by the Cassation Court today.

Chief Prosecutor Ahmed Al Ramadan confirmed in a statement that "the case involved a criminal network led by a doctor who specialised in forging prescriptions for the purpose of dispensing large quantities of narcotic substances and medical drugs to resell them at exaggerated prices to those who abuse these substances."

According to court files, the doctor, who is the main defendant, was sentenced by the First High Criminal Court to seven years in jail, while his six co-defendants received different sentences. The charges levied against them were drugs abuse, possession and peddling, as well as forging official documents. The doctor supposedly worked in several hospitals that gave him the opportunity to liaise with pharmacies around Bahrain. He reportedly also owned a few pharmacies.

Two co-defendants were sentenced to six years of imprisonment and fined BD2,000 each, while another co-defendant received three years of imprisonment and deportation. The fourth defendant was sentenced to two years of imprisonment and fined BD1,000, the fifth person one year jail term for forging official documents, while the sixth defendant was acquitted.  

The defendants were guilty of dispensing large quantities of addictive prescription pills known as “Lyrica”, using fake prescriptions issued by the doctor and illegally selling it to addicts at four times its actual price.

The racket was exposed earlier this year when Bahrain Defence Force (BDF), in cooperation with the Interior Ministry’s Anti-Narcotics Department, arrested a military staff and two civilians while illegally selling the pills.

During interrogation, one of the defendants said that he has been using the drug since he was prescribed it in 2010 after being involved in a traffic accident. He revealed that some people approached him wanting to (illegally) buy his prescribed medicine for prices ranging between BD10 to BD20 which is much more than its actual price. He decided to take advantage of the situation and kept selling the drugs for a couple of years. It was during this illegal stint that he met the doctor (main defendant), a few months before he was arrested. The doctor helped him by prescribing large quantities of “Lyrica”. He also provided the doctor with copies of identity cards of other people so more number of prescriptions could be issued to be sold to addicts. He once sold a box of “Lyrica” packets for BD3,000 in this way. The defendant said that he would buy an average of 60 packets of the drug from pharmacies every two days, selling one packet for prices ranging between BD50 to 100. When the demand is high, he would buy more than 100 packets at a time.

Investigations revealed that some of the prescriptions were issued in 2019 to individuals who had left Bahrain in 2018.

For his part, the doctor, who is a consultant and reportedly practised medicine for over 30 years, denied the charges, justifying thus - "My intention was to only help needy people and patients, especially that I have been practising medicine for more than 30 years."

Reports by the National Health Regulatory Authority (NHRA) showed that the doctor had issued prescriptions of “Lyrica” and similar drugs from pharmacies that he was professionally affiliated with him. He helped the co-defendants buy around 3,000 packets in just four months.