A court convicted two doctors and two ambulance workers of participating in a scheme in which 14 patients were allowed to die -- or in some cases killed with muscle relaxants -- in return for kickbacks from funeral homes.

All received prison sentences, ranging from five years to life.

Funeral homes in Lodz paid ambulance service employees bribes in exchange for tips about deaths, so the homes could get clients. A Lodz court ruled that the defendants went a step further and killed patients or intentionally failed to save them.