Private-sector influence must be prevented in healthcare

Greater investment in public facilities, more effective regulation and enforcement of ethics required

It was only last year that GlaxoSmithKline Plc was fined the equivalent of $500 million in China for bribing officials to push its medicine sales.

But here we are again, with media reports saying that the State Administration for Industry and Commerce has accused Germany-based Siemens AG and its dealers of violating the competition law. Siemens allegedly donated medical devices in return for agreements from customers that they would exclusively buy the chemical reagents needed to use these machines from Siemens.