17 detained in medical fraud case

Police in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone in Guangdong province have detained 17 people after cracking down on a criminal gang suspected of medical insurance fraud.

According to a statement released by Shenzhen's healthcare security bureau on Friday, the gang was investigated for suspected of tampering with the genetic test results of tumor patients to defraud the medical insurance fund in the previous months.

The bureau teamed up with police for further investigation after learning that some staff of pharmaceutical giant Astra-Zeneca may have colluded with the gang to cheat the insurance fund in July, the statement said.

After months of investigation, a special operation was launched recently by Shenzhen healthcare and public security authorities to break up the gang, under the guidance of the National Healthcare Security Administration.

Investigation of the case is continuing, the statement said.