Three individuals have been arrested at the Clinic of Radiological Therapy and Oncology in Skopje, including former director Nino Vasev.
This announcement was confirmed by the Public Prosecutor’s Office after a police inspection of the clinic’s premises by the Macedonian police on Tuesday morning. The police intervention is related to the well-known scandal of misuse of drugs at this state clinic. Raids have also been conducted in two other locations, and the Prosecutor’s Office has stated that the investigation will continue.
Some patients who were present at the time of the arrests at the clinic told journalists that they had seen the former director, Dr. Nino Vasev, with handcuffs on his hands covered with a white coat, accompanied by police officers. One of the directors of the Oncology Clinic, Halit Matoshi, told the media that among the other detainees was a nurse and an employee of the clinic.
The two clinic directors, Violeta Klisarova and Halit Matoshi, said that the investigative authorities had not asked them anything, but only stated that they had a mandate for raids and the arrest of three employees.
The scandal was uncovered a few months ago by the weekly magazine “Fokus”, which published a series of articles about a criminal-business network for the sale of cytostatics, expensive drugs for the treatment of cancer patients. According to the magazine, several doctors and healthcare personnel from the Oncology clinic were involved in this network.
Last autumn, Parliament formed a commission to investigate the scandal. The chairwoman of this parliamentary commission, Rashela Mizrahi of VMRO-DPMNE, had accused the clinic directors, former Minister of Health Venko Filipče, and several former directors of healthcare institutions in the country.
The scandal prompted numerous reactions in the public opinion, among healthcare workers, but also among political parties, deepening the clashes between the opposition and the ruling parties.
Meanwhile, suspicions about manipulations with medications in this clinic have been raised by some patients or family members who have lost loved ones to cancer.
The Prosecutor’s investigation will have to determine whether patients were given saline solution instead of cytostatics during therapy, as suspicions have been raised.
