The licenses of 9 private hospitals in Istanbul and one in the city of Tekirdag have been revoked because of the deaths of 12 newborns caused in these hospitals. This was announced by the Turkish Minister of Health Kemal Memisoglu, quoted by TRT Haber, BTA writes, quoted by bTV.
According to him, the hospitals were involved in the investigation conducted by the Republican Prosecutor's Office in connection with the death of the newborns.
Among the sanctioned hospitals is the hospital of former health minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu in Istanbul, reported ODA TV.
The scandal became public knowledge after it was revealed that a group of doctors and A&E workers were sending babies in need of emergency care to private clinics instead of emergency departments in public hospitals in order to make a profit.< /p>
The private clinics where the babies were sent not only did not have the necessary conditions for treatment, but also the treatment in them was much more expensive than in the state ones.
At least 12 newborns have died as a result of not receiving the necessary medical care they needed, ie. were knowingly sent to their deaths by a criminal group.
More than 40 people participated in it, doctors, nurses and social workers, and probably also responsible employees from the hospitals in question, local media commented.
At the same time, a republican prosecutor has requested a sentence of 10 to 589 years in prison for the alleged leader of the criminal group Firat Saru of Esenyurt District Hospital in Istanbul, and a total of 500 years in prison for the other participants in the group of ”baby killers”. as she is called in the Turkish media.
22 of the 47 suspects are in custody. It is insisted that they be sentenced to the most severe punishments.
According to the indictment of more than 500 pages, the head of the criminal group is a Turkish doctor who is accused of intentional murder, leadership of a criminal group and falsification of official documents.