A suspension, a fine, community service and a suspended prison sentence did not prevent veterinarian Huub B. (52) from Scheemda from treating animals. According to the court, he just kept going.
B. is said to have, among other things, put a goat to sleep and delivered medicines while he was suspended as a veterinarian. On Monday, March 6, the doctor must again answer to the court in Zwolle.
Huub B. was convicted there in 2019 and later received a one-year suspension from the disciplinary tribunal. He cheated between 2014 and 2017 with mandatory vaccines for poultry against Newcastle disease, also known as pseudo-bird flu.
Fellow doctors filed a report against Huub B.
Colleagues of B. filed a report at the time because many more vaccinations were sold than purchased. At the beginning of 2018, it resulted in the clinic in Veendam, where B. worked, being split up because other doctors left the partnership. It is striking that B. was named vet of the year on NPO Radio 2 the same year.
After the complaints of his colleagues, the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) started an investigation. It turned out that B. diluted the Newcastle medicines up to 6 times, so that he could put many more syringes. As a result of his actions, hundreds of thousands of vaccinated broilers from 30 poultry farms produced far fewer antibodies than if they had been vaccinated normally.
It could have had major consequences for animal and public health, such as major outbreaks. In three years, B. sold about 8.7 million more injections than he bought and made an illegal profit of just under 170,000 euros.
Forgery
In his own words, he was careless with the administration of the vaccines, but according to the court in Zwolle, B. deliberately committed forgery. He received a maximum community service of 240 hours and six months in prison. The partnership B. worked for was given a conditional fine of 50,000 euros and had to repay the criminally earned money.
Research by RTV Noord showed that he would have been fined for similar offenses in 2005 and 2012. With the court’s ruling in hand, the Veterinary Appeals Board – the disciplinary committee for veterinarians – suspended Huub B. for one year in November 2020 and also fined him 8,500 euros.
A year in prison hangs over B.’s head
It did not matter that B. stopped his practices, the judiciary believes. In early 2021, for example, he administered a medicine to a pony and euthanized a goat. Something that is strictly forbidden for doctors when they are suspended. It is seen as a crime in the Netherlands. B. can again be imposed a six-month prison sentence, in addition to the six-month prison sentence that still hangs over his head after the first conviction. After a new judgment from the court, the disciplinary committee can decide to completely expel B. from the profession.
Huub B.’s lawyer did not respond to DvhN’s requests.