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20-11-2024
ISTANBUL: Forty-seven people have gone on trial in Turkey in connection with an alleged scam in which newborns were transferred between hospitals for profit.
Prosecutors say doctors, nurses and ambulance drivers are responsible for the deaths of at least 10 children.
The defendants are accused of making false diagnoses to transfer babies to 19 private hospitals, where they were allegedly kept in intensive care in neonatal units for lengthy, sometimes unnecessary treatments.
According to the 1,400-page indictment, those involved shared the social security payments earned for each day a baby stayed in the unit. The defendants deny wrongdoing.
They say they made the decisions in good faith and gave the babies the best possible care.
One of the accused, Dr Firat Sari, told prosecutors that everything had been done “in accordance with procedures”, the Associated Press new agency reports.
As the trial opened, dozens of people took part in a protest outside the courthouse near Istanbul, chanting “baby killers will be held accountable” and “private hospitals should be shut down”, media adds.
Police launched an inquiry following an anonymous tip-off in March 2023.
Ten hospitals have had their licences revoked as a result of the investigation.
If found guilty the defendants face lengthy prison sentences for “homicide through negligence”, fraud and forgery.
Dr. Firat Sari, the main defendant who operated the neonatal intensive care units of several private hospitals in Istanbul, is facing a sentence of up to 583 years in prison.
He is charged with establishing an organization with the aim of committing a crime, defrauding public institutions, forgery of official documents, and homicide by negligence.
During questioning by prosecutors, Sari denied accusations that the babies were not given the proper care, that the neonatal units were understaffed or that his employees were not appropriately qualified, according to a 1,400-page indictment.
He told prosecutors: “Everything is in accordance with procedures.”
Dozens of demonstrators joined protests outside the courthouse, chanting: “Baby killers will be held accountable” and “‘Private hospitals should be shut down.”
Over 350 families have petitioned prosecutors or other state institutions seeking investigations into the deaths of their loved ones, according to state media.
Among them is Hacire Akinci, 42, who lost her baby last year after eight years of fertility treatments.
“They gave us a medical report that said the baby had died of natural causes but apparently that wasn’t the case,” she told reporters outside the courthouse. “I want charges to be brought, I want justice to be served.”
The case has led to calls for the resignation of Health Minister Kemal Memisoglu, who was the Istanbul provincial health director at the time some of the deaths occurred. Ozgur Ozel, the main opposition party leader, has called for all hospitals involved to be seized by the state and nationalized.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said those responsible for the deaths would be severely punished but warned against placing all the blame on the country’s health care system.
“We will not allow our health care community to be battered because of a few rotten apples,” said Erdogan. (Int’l News Desk)
