Around the World: Poland

No fine in free drug case

A court in Poland has refused to punish a doctor charged with incurring losses to the state-run health system by writing prescriptions for uninsured homeless people.

The court in Krakow said yesterday that the doctor, Ilona Rosiek-Konieczna, was driven by true compassion when she wrote up free prescriptions for poor people. It said the doctor's actions were not harmful to society and ended the proceedings without ordering any punishment.