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David Rath (born 25 December 1965) is a Czech
physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner ( Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through t ...
, former
politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
who served as
Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...
from 2005 to 2006, and convicted criminal. He was a member of the
Czech Social Democratic Party The Czech Social Democratic Party ( cs, Česká strana sociálně demokratická, ČSSD, ) is a social-democratic political party in the Czech Republic. Sitting on the centre-left of the political spectrum and holding pro-European views, it is a m ...
(ČSSD) until 16 May 2012 when he resigned after being charged with bribery. He also served as Member of the
Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...
(MP) from 2006 to 2013, first as representative from
Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a tempera ...
and then from
Central Bohemian Region The Central Bohemian Region ( cz, Středočeský kraj, german: Mittelböhmische Region) is an administrative unit ( cz, kraj) of the Czech Republic, located in the central part of its historical region of Bohemia. Its administrative centre is in ...
where he was Governor between 2008 and 2012. On 23 July 2015, Rath was sentenced to 8.5 years in prison for
corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption ...
and manipulation with
government procurement Government procurement or public procurement is the procurement of goods, services and works on behalf of a public authority, such as a government agency. Amounting to 12 percent of global GDP in 2018, government procurement accounts for a sub ...
s. Rath appealed the verdict. The appeal was rejected on 26 June 2019, but the sentence was reduced to seven years.


Medical career

Rath completed his medical degree at
Charles University in Prague ) , image_name = Carolinum_Logo.svg , image_size = 200px , established = , type = Public, Ancient , budget = 8.9 billion CZK , rector = Milena Králíčková , faculty = 4,057 , administrative_staff = 4,026 , students = 51,438 , underg ...
in 1990. He practiced internal medicine at General Teaching Hospital in Prague (Všeobecná fakultní nemocnice), and then at the Faculty Hospital at Motol (Fakultní nemocnice v Motole). Then in
Kralupy nad Vltavou Kralupy nad Vltavou (; german: Kralup an der Moldau) is a town in Mělník District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 18,000 inhabitants. It is known as a traffic hub and industrial agglomeration. The town is a par ...
he worked for the Samaritan Association. He returned to Prague and joined the internal medicine faculty at Charles University in 1995. From 1998 to 2005 Rath served as the president of the Czech Doctors' Chamber (Česká Lékařská Komora, or ČLK), an umbrella organisation for all Czech physicians.


Political career

In 1994 Rath joined the Civic Democratic Party (ODS). In 1995 he formed the Medical Action Group (or Physician's Union Club) within the party, which brought in significant monetary support during the 1998 elections. As director of the Physician's Union Club Rath initiated the November 1996 doctor's strike. In 1996 he was vice-chairman of the Free Democrats – Liberal National Socialist Party coalition (SD-LSNS). In November 2005, the Prime Minister at the time, Jiří Paroubek, appointed him health minister. He was directed to fix the finances of the troubled Czech health system, and he proceeded to institute a number of radical reforms. In May 2006 Rath made international news when he traded blows with former
Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...
Miroslav Macek at a dentists' conference after reportedly implying that Macek had married his wife for her money. Macek was later fined for having initiated the violence by slapping Rath on the back of the head prior to delivering a speech at the conference. In September 2006, Rath was succeeded by Tomáš Julínek as Minister of Health for the Czech Republic. Rath was then elected chairman of the Health Committee of the Czech Chamber of Deputies (lower house).


Corruption charge and conviction

In May 2012, he was arrested and charged with receiving bribes. At that time, he served both as a
Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
of the Czech Republic and Governor of the
Central Bohemian Region The Central Bohemian Region ( cz, Středočeský kraj, german: Mittelböhmische Region) is an administrative unit ( cz, kraj) of the Czech Republic, located in the central part of its historical region of Bohemia. Its administrative centre is in ...
. On 23 July 2015, he was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison. The verdict was appealed by Rath's defense counsel. The appeal was rejected in June 2019, but the sentence was reduced to seven years. Charges in a second bribery case are still pending.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rath, David 1965 births Living people Politicians from Prague Charles University alumni Charles University faculty Czech physicians Czech Social Democratic Party MPs Health ministers of the Czech Republic Corruption in the Czech Republic Civic Democratic Party (Czech Republic) politicians Czech Social Democratic Party governors Members of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic (2006–2010) Members of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic (2010–2013) Czech criminals Politicians convicted of crimes