Stryker Under Bribery Investigation in Poland

Stryker Corporation’s Polish branch is being investigated for allegedly offering bribes to hospital officials across Poland in order to secure deals.

Leszek Golawski, the prosecutor in the southern city of Katowice in Poland, is reported by the Associated Press (AP) on December 31 to have confirmed that dozens of private apartments and offices have been searched in recent months. Prosecutors were looking for evidence that between 2003-2006 employees of Stryker offered bribes to hospital heads to “win tenders worth hundreds of thousands of zlotys.” One Polish zloty is worth $.32. The case involves over 100 people and 51 hospitals.

The prosecutor did not say whether any evidence gathered to date could lead to indictments.

Earlier this year, according to the AP, a court in Olsztyn overturned an indictment and a prison term for a local hospital director found guilty by a lower court of accepting bribes from Stryker. That case is going back to court.

Poland’s health care system does not have a great reputation.

According to the Euro Health Consumer Index (EHI), Poland ranked 27th out of 34 medical services reported by the EHI. Only Hungary, Albania, Macedonia, Latvia, Romania, Bulgaria and Serbia ranked below Poland in the index. Also, according to the EHI, Poles have one of the worst accesses to the most up-to-date drugs; have one of the highest mortality rates from cancer and one the longest waiting times for an appointment with a doctor or treatment at a hospital.