On the afternoon of Oct. 7, the appeals court of the Supreme People’s Court in Hanoi, after pausing twice, handed down its appeal ruling in the case of losses and waste at the Facility 2 project of Bạch Mai Hospital and Việt Đức Hospital (Dân trí, Thanh Niên, Tuổi Trẻ, Báo Chính phủ, Soha, 24h, Giáo dục Thủ đô). Ms. Nguyễn Thị Kim Tiến had her sentence cut from 6 years to 3 years in prison. She has fully remedied VND 108 billion under the first-instance ruling and paid in another VND 1.1 billion. The panel of judges determined that she did not directly commit the violations but that her directive created the chain of later violations. Ten defendants had their sentences reduced together; four received a suspended sentence (Tuổi Trẻ). One outlet wrongly gave the date of the ruling as Sept. 30.
This is a major case over the management of State assets in health care, and the appeal ruling is legally effective. The sentence reduction for remedying the consequences shows that paying money back affects the sentence.
There is no direct effect on daily life; the significance lies in the message about the responsibility of those at the top and about remedying the consequences.
Recognizing the remedying of consequences encourages defendants to pay money back, helping the State recover what was lost.
Halving the sentence of a former minister may lead some people to feel the deterrent is insufficient, even though the court still determined that her directive was the origin of the violations.
The ruling shows that the court weighed both responsibility and the remedying of consequences. Read the judgment closely when it is published to learn each line of reasoning, rather than relying only on the figure of 3 years.
Dân trí, Thanh Niên, Tuổi Trẻ, Báo Chính phủ, Soha, 24h, Giáo dục Thủ đô (Oct. 7-8, 2026)
The appeals court cuts former Health Minister Nguyễn Thị Kim Tiến’s sentence from 6 years to 3 years in prison; four other defendants get a suspended sentence
The court noted that she had remedied VND 108 billion and paid in another VND 1.1 billion; it still determined that her directive created the chain of later violations.
On the afternoon of Oct. 7, the appeals court of the Supreme People’s Court in Hanoi handed down its ruling in the case of losses and waste at the Facility 2 project of Bạch Mai Hospital and Việt Đức Hospital, according to Dân trí, Thanh Niên, Tuổi Trẻ, Báo Chính phủ and Soha. The court upheld the appeal in part and cut Ms. Nguyễn Thị Kim Tiến’s sentence from 6 years to 3 years in prison for violating regulations on the management and use of State assets, causing losses and waste.
According to Báo Chính phủ, Ms. Tiến has remedied the full VND 108 billion under the first-instance judgment and paid in another VND 1.1 billion to help the other defendants; the panel of judges also recognized that her family has contributed to the revolution. The court determined that she did not directly cause the violations at the two projects but that her directive created the chain of later violations. According to Tuổi Trẻ, four other defendants were moved from prison to a suspended sentence, and all ten defendants had their sentences reduced. The Procuracy at the appeal level had earlier not proposed a suspended sentence for her.