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The 7 most high-profile scandals in medicine in recent years
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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The first commandment of every doctor is the Hippocratic postulate "Do no harm!" Unfortunately, there are often cases when this principle has to be recalled in court. The medical profession has recently become associated with high-profile scandals. What kind? The DocShop publication made a short excursion through the pages of newspapers and offered readers 7 of the most high-profile medical cases in recent years.
1. Reused syringes in Nevada
We have all heard horror stories about patients being infected with various parenteral infections due to careless attitude towards safety measures. When this happens in third world countries where the most basic things are lacking, it is not particularly surprising. However, it is hard to believe that such a scandal occurred in Nevada, USA. At the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada, due to the reuse of syringes, six patients were infected with viral hepatitis C, and about 40 thousand patients were suspected of being infected with other parenteral hepatitis and HIV.
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2. The Shame of Walter Reed Hospital
The Walter Reed military unit of the US Army gained a bad reputation for the terrible conditions in its hospital. They were as close to war conditions as possible - it seemed as if the bombing had just ended: half-destroyed walls, on which mold had settled due to dampness, full of cockroaches, mice. In such unsanitary conditions, soldiers received medical care.
3. Children infected with HIV
A tragic and terrible event took place in Kazakhstan when dozens of children were infected with HIV due to the fatal negligence of medical personnel. It cost the health of 61 children, several of whom have already died.
4. Custom vaccine research
More and more often, publications on medical topics do not justify our trust in them. Especially when they are backed by financial interests and research commissioned by someone. In 2004, Andrew Wakefield published the results of his scientific work, where he expressed an opinion about the connection between vaccination against measles, mumps and rubella and the development of childhood autism. In this way, he dissuaded parents from undergoing the necessary vaccination, playing into the hands of a law firm that was preparing a case against vaccine manufacturers.
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5. Softball and drugs
In 2003, the sports world was hit by a wave of medical scandals involving famous names. The beginning was the release of a softball coach in the United States. The fact is that the team's sports doctor, William Scheer, supplied soft drugs, tranquilizers and other prescription-only drugs to his charges. This was the beginning of an investigation into the activities of sports doctors and a number of no less high-profile cases in other sports, particularly basketball.
6. Conspiracy of medical companies
The law of market relations requires competition between companies. However, unfortunately, there are often hidden collusions between the largest drug manufacturers. Due to secret agreements between "competitors", inflated prices for drugs have no chance of going down. Providing medicines to hospitals and clinics has always been a profitable business. Therefore, Adcock Ingram, with the support of competitors - Dismed Criticare, Thusanong Health Care and Fresenius Kabi South Africa - "cheated" the South African government for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
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7. Bribes in medical schools
The practice of medical institutions in any country is outrageous, when drugs are prescribed by prior agreement with the supplier not according to indications, but for the sake of so-called "kickbacks". Not for the drug, but for each patient sent to a medical school in New Jersey, local doctors received money from the inventive cardiologists of the medical institution. The dirty scheme was revealed in 2006. The conspiracy involved 18 employees of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, who caused damage to the US health care system to the tune of a tidy sum - $36 million.
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