Siemens and One More Company Caught Colluding in CT Purchase Bidding at Chungbuk National University Hospital

"Siemens Encourages Canon Medical Systems Korea to Participate to Prevent Auction Failure"

Full-body multi-channel computerized tomography (CT) scanner. (Photo by Korea Fair Trade Commission)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Siemens and Canon Medical Systems Korea were caught by the Fair Trade Commission for colluding in a bid to purchase a whole-body multi-channel computed tomography (CT) scanner conducted by Chungbuk National University Hospital.

On the 15th, the Fair Trade Commission judged that Siemens and Canon Medical Systems Korea had agreed in advance on the successful bidder and a decoy in the bid, and decided to impose corrective orders and a total fine of 54 million KRW.

According to the Fair Trade Commission, the two companies agreed that Canon Medical Systems Korea would act as a decoy so that Siemens could win the bid for the whole-body CT purchase conducted by Chungbuk National University Hospital in September 2015.

Siemens judged that it was highly likely to win the bid based on the bid specifications presented before Chungbuk National University Hospital conducted the bidding.

The problem was that if Canon Medical Systems Korea did not participate in the bid, the bid could be canceled due to lack of bidders.

Siemens requested the participation of Canon Medical Systems Korea representatives, who had previously worked together at the company, and received their acceptance.

Canon Medical Systems Korea submitted a bid higher than the expected price, allowing Siemens to win the bid.

The Fair Trade Commission found significance in detecting and sanctioning businesses that colluded in bids for medical equipment related to public safety.

A Fair Trade Commission official said, "Through this action, competition among companies in medical equipment purchase bids will be promoted," and added, "It is expected that competitive order can be established in related bids in the future."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.