Porto Doctor’s Ozempic Scheme Drains €3M, Leaves Diabetics Waiting

Residents of Portugal woke up this week to yet another reminder that the country’s cherished public health system can be a magnet for sophisticated scams. A well-known endocrinologist from Porto was detained after investigators concluded she had helped siphon roughly €3 million from the Serviço Nacional de Saúde by prescribing Ozempic and similar drugs to people who were never diabetic. The goal was simple: rapid weight-loss for paying clients and an almost risk-free profit for the network behind her.

Why this matters

Portugal’s taxpayers, already under pressure from rising food and housing costs, foot the bill for nearly 95 % of each subsidised diabetes prescription. When those publicly funded boxes of medicine end up in the handbags of healthy gym-goers instead of genuine patients, the entire health-budget tilts further out of balance. Beyond money, the case revives concerns that excessive demand for semaglutide, the active molecule in Ozempic, could create shortages for citizens who truly need it to keep blood sugar under control. Public-health experts warn that erosion of trust in the SNS can be as damaging as the raw financial loss.

How the scheme worked

According to Judicial Police files reviewed by our newsroom, the detained physician inserted false medical data into the electronic prescribing software that links every clinic in Portugal with state reimbursement servers. By flagging healthy clients as type-2 diabetics, she secured almost total co-payment from public funds. A lawyer allegedly streamlined paperwork, while two shell companies—registered in Albufeira and Funchal—made the money trail harder to follow. The operation, code-named Obélix, also touched accounting offices in Lousada and Santa Maria da Feira, hinting at an elaborate effort to blur financial footprints across several districts.

The financial and public-health impact

Three million euros may look small beside Portugal’s €15 billion annual health budget, yet specialised investigators insist that every diverted euro represents fewer resources for maternity wards, renal dialysis or rural ambulances. Pharmacists report that legitimate diabetic patients in Lisbon and Braga have already experienced sporadic delays in receiving semaglutide injections. If the latest accusations stand, the illicit weight-loss market did not merely bleed public coffers; it also pushed vulnerable diabetics to the back of the supply chain queue.

A broader pattern of health-system fraud

Operation Obélix is just one entry in a growing dossier of cases where medical professionals exploit digital loopholes inside state software. In 2022, auditors uncovered phantom radiology tests billed to the SNS in Setúbal, and last spring authorities halted a counterfeit orthopaedic implant ring in Coimbra. Investigators say the common denominator is a blend of technological know-how and the belief that under-resourced oversight teams will struggle to connect dots across regions. The National Association of Pharmacies has called for tighter algorithmic red flags whenever clusters of unusual prescriptions appear.

What happens next

The endocrinologist, now under pre-trial detention, faces possible charges of aggravated fraud and computer falsification. Magistrates in the DIAP Regional do Porto will decide within days whether she remains behind bars or is released under bail conditions such as passport surrender. Meanwhile, forensic accountants are poring over clinic invoices, hoping to identify the final beneficiaries of the illicit payments. Should convictions follow, legal experts predict civil lawsuits from the State to recover every misused cent—a move designed not only to reclaim public money but also to signal that the SNS, despite its vulnerabilities, will defend itself aggressively against those who try to game the system.