Facts
The appellant, a physician working as a self-employed doctor in his own practice, processed a total of 55,981 orders for prescription-only medications between February 2006 and December 2009. He accepted 82% of these orders and rejected 18%. In 45,847 cases, he issued prescriptions without personally examining the applicants. The appellant received CHF 10.-- for each prescription request, regardless of whether he approved or rejected it.
The Cantonal Court of Solothurn found the appellant guilty of qualified unlawful trafficking in narcotics by medical personnel and sentenced him to a conditional prison term of 24 months, with a probation period of three years, and a fine of 144 daily rates of CHF 230.-- each. It also ordered him to pay the canton of Solothurn a compensation claim of CHF 280,000.--.
Considerations
The Federal Court found the appellant guilty of qualified unlawful trafficking in narcotics by medical personnel. The appellant had argued that his behavior did not fall within the scope of the NarcA, but rather within the scope of the Medicinal Products Act. However, the Federal Court decided that the provisions of the NarcA are applicable insofar as the Medicinal Products Act does not provide for any or a less extensive regulation.
The Federal Court further decided that the appellant fulfilled the offense of Art. 20 para. 1 sec. 3 NarcA by prescribing narcotics in disregard of the rules of Art. 11 NarcA in conjunction with Art. 43 sec. 1 NarcA Ordinance. The appellant had argued that he had not acted with intent, as he was not aware of the medical indication for the prescription of the narcotics. However, the Federal Court decided that the intent refers to the lack of a proper examination of…