Brothers of Mercy pledge clearer hospital drug billing

ORF reports that the Styrian Health Fund is examining a hospital and pharmacy run by the Brothers of Mercy in Graz over allegations of inflated medicine charges. The pharmacy is said to have charged the hospital mark-ups on medicines, which the hospital then billed to the state as additional costs. The order says it will make the billing more transparent.

The review is still under way, and no final report has been issued. The Brothers of Mercy say their billing complies with legal requirements, while the Health Fund’s first report reached a different conclusion. An audit report has put the alleged financial damage in the millions.

Commercially operated pharmacies supply the Brothers of Mercy hospitals in Graz, Linz, Eisenstadt and Vienna. Their billing prices are substantially higher than the cost of the medicines, with additional charges for preparation, pharmaceutical support during ward rounds, staff and storage. Surpluses have remained at each location for decades.

An external review found that the order’s investments from its own funds in Graz from 2009 to 2025 significantly exceeded the pharmacy’s surpluses. In some cases, medicine mark-ups reportedly topped 1,000 percent, with more than ten times the purchase price billed to the state of Styria.

Peter Ausweger, head of the Brothers of Mercy in Austria, said on Wednesday that the billing systems would be further developed. At all four locations, charges will be shown more clearly, with records made retrospectively from January 2026 explaining how surpluses arose and how they were used. A new model is also planned to distinguish more clearly between the different parties paying for medicine supply.