116 doctors, nurses received Dumex bribes

Dumex infant formula

Dumex Baby Food Co has been bribing 116 doctors and nurses from 85 medical institutions in Tianjin Municipality to feed newborn babies with its products since 2011 and 13 of the involved have received punishment, the local government said Monday.

The bribes taken by the 116 people have been recovered and 13 medical workers have been punished severely by either being dismissed or suspended from duty, according to an investigation report posted by the Tianjin government on its official Sina Weibo account Monday.

The investigation was carried out by the Tianjin Health Bureau, together with local police, after a report by China Central Television (CCTV) on September 16 claiming that medical staff from a hospital in Tianjin had accepted bribes from Dumex, an infant formula maker owned by French food group Danone SA.

The CCTV report also alleged that Dumex had conducted similar illegal practices in other provinces around the country.

Following the reports, the National Health and Family Planning Commission told hospitals to strictly abide by the law governing breast milk substitutes, the Xinhua News Agency reported Monday.

In a statement sent to the Global Times Monday, Dumex said the CCTV report was related to the company-sponsored project supporting mother-and-child health education. The company said the project was not properly managed in some cases, resulting in practices that contradicted the purpose of the project and violated companywide policies.

To regulate the industry, the central government banned the promotion of milk powder by hospitals in 1995.

Analysts said that this incident will seriously damage Dumex's reputation in China.