At least 21 people have been charged in Turkey with a fraud involving newborns and private hospitals that resulted in the deaths of at least 10 infants.
An indictment seen by Middle East Eye alleges 21 suspects took advantage of Turkey's public healthcare system by transferring newborn babies from public hospitals to private clinics for long stays in order to receive public benefits. is said to be involved.
The suspects used an accomplice who operated 112 emergency phone lines to unnecessarily transfer infants to 19 private hospitals.
The accomplices sent the infant to a private facility even though a state hospital was available.
By doing so, the suspects allegedly benefited from payments made to patients by the Turkish Social Security Institution (SGK), which paid more for private medical care for young children.
New MEE Newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch
Sign up for the latest insights and analysis
Alongside Israel-Palestine, Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters
While in care, newborns were neglected and, in some cases, left to die.
The accusations are a blow to the government. In its health reform in the early 2000s, the government promoted the use of private hospitals to reduce waiting times for treatment in the public sector.
“Cruel and unacceptable”
Turkish Health Minister Kemal Memisoglu said on Saturday that the licenses of 10 of the 19 hospitals had already been revoked.
He also defended his record on the case, noting that he was the one who submitted an official report to prosecutors about the allegations last year when he was regional director of Istanbul's health ministry.
Turkish doctors face extensive new police and intelligence investigations
read more ”
“We are going to follow the process that took us to court until the end. This is cruel and unacceptable,” he said in a televised address on Friday.
The 1,399-page indictment says he misrepresented the newborn's health condition as more serious than it actually was, kept him in intensive care for extended periods of time, and secured large payments from SGK.
The indictment accuses “Doctor FS,'' the mastermind behind the scheme, which Turkish media has dubbed a “new gang.''
Prosecutors allege that Dr. FS had contracts with intensive care units in a number of private hospitals in Istanbul to accept patients.
As the owner of Medisense Health Services, the doctor regularly paid bribes to emergency room transport personnel. By doing so, a system was created to direct patients to specific private hospitals.
In some cases, young children were abused in private institutions, and their negligence led to their deaths. Gang members allegedly created false reports to conceal the cause of death in some instances.
Dr. IG, an alleged member of the group, even instructed nurses to kill babies kept alive on life support for long periods of time in order to extract more funds.
“She stayed at this hospital overnight. We picked up her body in the morning.”
– Mother of an infant who died under the private healthcare system
Additionally, prosecutors allege that drugs not used for treatment were marked as used and instead sold on the open market.
The infant's parents were asked to purchase medical equipment and make additional payments to the hospital to increase the gang's profits, according to the indictment.
BN, the mother of a newborn baby who died in the neonatal ward, told Turkish newspaper Miliyet that her daughter had been in intensive care for three nights at a public hospital.
Doctors then told her to transfer her baby to another hospital where they could receive better treatment.
“The doctor said the intensive care fee would be 7,000 liras ($204) per night and that our daughter would need two weeks of treatment. We accepted,” she said.
The mother was required to pay more than $1,000 and purchase other medical necessities.
“Then I left the hospital. The next day I got a call and the doctor said my daughter had passed away in the early morning,” she said.
“She was admitted to this hospital overnight. We collected her body in the morning.”
“Hundreds of babies”
The hospitals mentioned in the investigation include Reyap Hospital, Beylikduz Medilife Hospital, Bagsilar TRG Hospitalist, and Avsilar Hospital.
The investigation began in 2023 when an anonymous individual submitted a petition to the Turkish presidential palace about the deaths of “hundreds of babies” in the gang's custody.
Medical tourism in Türkiye: why Turkey is the capital of cosmetic surgery
read more ”
It is unclear how long this plan was in place.
After the case became public, the criminal organization allegedly hired anonymous individuals with political connections to intimidate prosecutors investigating the matter.
The co-conspirator was recorded making the threat and was subsequently arrested last week.
Deniz Yucel, spokesman for Turkey's main opposition party, the Republican People's Party (CHP), called on the health minister to resign in light of the allegations.
“In any other country, the government would resign, but here we have responsible politicians clinging to their positions with great shame and brazenness,” he said.
Yucel also blamed former health minister Fahrettin Koca and his predecessor Mehmet Muezinoglu for the deaths.
