Two doctors were arrested here on Monday for issuing false medical certificates to inmates which allowed them to leave prison.
Police said inmates paid the doctors for certificates which claimed they were victims of depression, alcoholism or drug addiction which could not be treated in prison.
Ten others were arrested along with the doctors including inmates suspected of having committed crimes while out of prison.
One of the doctors arrested worked in the day hospital psychiatric ward at Rome's Gemelli Hospital, where police seized scores of medical files.
Among those arrested was a social worker at Gemelli hospital who scheduled visits with the doctor at the psychiatric ward and negotiated the price for the false certificates.
According to police, inmates paid 1,000 euros for a certificate which allowed them to leave prison.
