India to investigate corruption in healthcare after TV sting operation

By Aditya Kalra NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India has ordered an investigation into doctors and laboratories suspected of offering kickbacks for referring patients for medical tests, following a sting operation by a TV news channel. Hindi news channel News Nation TV showed laboratories in the national capital offering commissions as high as 50 percent to doctors who referred patients to their diagnostic centers. The diagnostic market is the fastest growing segment of India’s $74 billion healthcare industry, according to consultancy PwC, with the segment forecast to grow to $17 billion by 2021 from $3.4 billion in 2011.