Jignesh Patel (left), Rahil Patel (right).
The fraud cost the NHS, and ultimately the taxpayer, about £1.3 million,” prosecutor William Davis KC told jurors during the trial. Investigators also found 150 prescriptions for the two high-value medicines had been dispensed by Wise Pharmacy between January 2015 and June 2016, a pattern described during the case as highly unusual.
Sentencing them, Judge Justin Cole said the fraud had deprived an already strained NHS of substantial funds and diverted medicines, including drugs used to treat leukaemia, for personal gain. The judge said the defendants had intended to profit from reselling the medicines on the open market and that the offence involved considerable planning. He also said there was little to distinguish between their respective roles.
An investigation by the NHS Counter Fraud Authority found that the pharmacy had dispensed high-cost medicines, including Sprycel, used to treat leukaemia, and Noxafil, prescribed to prevent or treat certain fungal infections in patients undergoing chemotherapy. “This case is about a fraud against the NHS which was committed by these two defendants. Five other medicines were identified in the investigation: Atripla, Eviplera, Tobramycin, Truvada and Viread. Text messages exchanged between the defendants about medicines and obtaining false prescriptions were presented as evidence at trial. Both men denied the charges but were found guilty. The court heard that no identifiable direct harm to patients had been established beyond the misuse of their identities. However, the prosecution argued that the fraud had caused wider harm to the community. Both men were also disqualified from serving as company directors for six years. They will serve half of their prison sentences in custody.