Major university hospitals will be scrutinized for allegedly receiving illegal kickbacks worth up to tens of millions of U.S. dollars each from pharmaceutical companies, prosecutors said Tuesday.

The prosecution said it has received a request from health authorities to look into allegations that at least six university hospitals across the country have received monetary or other kickbacks, known as “rebates,” from drug manufacturers in exchange for prescribing their products, an illegal practice that drives up costs for patients.

It marks the first time that rebates given to hospitals disguised as donations would be subject to a criminal probe. It is also unprecedented that large university hospitals were massively reported to the prosecution over rebates.

The amount of money each hospital received in rebates range from hundreds of millions of won to tens of billions of won, according to sources. (Yonhap News)