{"id":1899,"date":"2020-02-05T08:17:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-05T08:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pragal-prinzenberg.de\/2023\/11\/21\/gestaltungsspielraeume-und-risiken-beim-vertrieb-von-nahrungsergaenzungsmitteln-ueber-niedergelassene-vertragsaerzte-05-02-2020\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T15:02:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T15:02:07","slug":"risks-distribution-dietary-supplements-via-licensed-panel-physicians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pragal-rechtsanwaelte.de\/en\/blog\/risks-distribution-dietary-supplements-via-licensed-panel-physicians\/","title":{"rendered":"Room for manoeuvre and risks in the distribution of dietary supplements via licensed panel physicians"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-base-background-color has-background\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The regulations on\u00a0<strong>corruption in healthcare<\/strong>\u00a0prohibit physicians from\u00a0<strong>referring patients to other service providers in exchange for commissions<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>However, a referral to\u00a0<strong>manufacturers of dietary supplements<\/strong>\u00a0does not involve a \u201cpatient\u201d but a \u201ccustomer.\u201d The manufacturer is also\u00a0<strong>not considered a service provider<\/strong>\u00a0under the anti-corruption provisions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A physician is permitted to\u00a0<strong>operate a commercial nutrition consulting institute<\/strong>, provided that this commercial activity is\u00a0<strong>separated from their medical practice<\/strong>\u00a0in terms of\u00a0<strong>time, organization, finances, and legal structure<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Patients must be able to\u00a0<strong>clearly distinguish<\/strong>\u00a0whether they are receiving medical treatment or acting as a customer in the institute.\u00a0<strong>Compliance with this separation principle<\/strong>\u00a0is solely the responsibility of the physician.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On the occasion of investigation proceedings by a public prosecutor\u2019s office against a manufacturer of dietary supplements as well as licensed panel physicians on suspicion of bribery or corruptibility in the healthcare sector <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gesetze-im-internet.de\/stgb\/__299a.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">(\u00a7 299a\/b StGB)<\/a>, the attorneys Sven Hennings and Dr. Oliver Pragal highlight the risk of triggering investigation proceedings due to a punishable \u201creferral of patients\u201d by the doctor to the manufacturer of supplements, e.g. in the case of commission payments to the doctor in accordance with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gesetze-im-internet.de\/stgb\/__299a.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u00a7 299a\/b Nr. 3 StGB<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Indeed, the prevailing opinion and the better arguments speak against such criminal liability, as the legal materials indicate that the offence solely applies to the \u201creferral of patients\u201d to another service provider and not, for instance, to the manufacturer of dietary supplements. This is because in this case, the person is question is not a \u201cpatient\u201d but rather a mere \u201ccustomer\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, as there have not yet been any court decisions \u2013 especially not by the highest courts \u2013 the risk of criminal liability cannot be categorically ruled out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Against this background, the attorneys point out that a licensed panel doctor is certainly allowed to operate an institute for nutritional counselling that is separate from the medical practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In summary, a physician who provides commercial nutritional counselling in the vicinity of their practice is not in breach of the professional code of conduct (\u00a7 3 (2) MBO-\u00c4) if this commercial activity is separated from their freelance medical activities in temporal, organisational, business and legal terms. This currently prevailing legal opinion is supported by the German Federal Court of Justice (BGH), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=2&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=2ahUKEwiyqOCE9a3nAhXT5KYKHU_RBsEQFjABegQIBhAB&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fjuris.bundesgerichtshof.de%2Fcgi-bin%2Frechtsprechung%2Fdocument.py%3FGericht%3Dbgh%26Art%3Den%26nr%3D44587%26pos%3D0%26anz%3D1&amp;usg=AOvVaw074nAYCtu0rLJsZUPzMD-r\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">judgement of 29 May 2008 I ZR 75\/05<\/a> and \u2013 as far as can be seen \u2013 similarly confirmed by the professional courts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A doctor is thus authorized to operate a commercial institute (for nutritional counselling) in accordance with the cited conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Doctors who operate an institute for nutritional counselling in a permissible manner (see sub. a above) must strictly adhere to the so-called principle of separation. Patients must be able to recognise whether they are receiving medical treatment or whether they are customers at the institute. The doctors alone are responsible for the adherence to this separation principle; only they can guarantee strict compliance with this requirement and bear responsibility in this regard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to the legal opinion of the attorneys, in the case of the sale of dietary supplements by the institute to its customers via its own account, there would be no risk of criminal liability under <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gesetze-im-internet.de\/stgb\/__299a.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u00a7 299a\/b Nr. 3 StGB<\/a> if certain requirements are met. This is because \u2013 unlike in the case of a supply contract between the supplement manufacturer and the institute as in the case of recommendations by the doctor in exchange for commission payments \u2013 there is, from the very outset, no constellation of offences that could be regarded as an unlawful agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Furthermore, in this case, the criterion of an offense under \u00a7 299a\/b StGB is not fulfilled, according to which the advantage \u201cin connection with the exercise of his profession\u201d (as a doctor) would have to be demanded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The attorneys point out that these legal statements cannot replace legal counsel in individual cases and thus reject any liability in this regard.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways On the occasion of investigation proceedings by a public prosecutor\u2019s office against a manufacturer of dietary supplements as well as licensed panel physicians on suspicion of bribery or corruptibility in the healthcare sector (\u00a7 299a\/b StGB), the attorneys Sven Hennings and Dr. Oliver Pragal highlight the risk of triggering investigation proceedings due to &#8230; <a title=\"Room for manoeuvre and risks in the distribution of dietary supplements via licensed panel physicians\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pragal-rechtsanwaelte.de\/en\/blog\/risks-distribution-dietary-supplements-via-licensed-panel-physicians\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Room for manoeuvre and risks in the distribution of dietary supplements via licensed panel physicians\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3269,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,17,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-compliance-en","category-criminal-defence","category-strafverteidigung"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Risks in the distribution of dietary supplements via physicians<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Criminal Defence for Doctors: Identifying Legal Risks in the Sale of Dietary Supplements and Acting Safely.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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