Istanbul (AP) The Turkish doctor at the heart of an alleged fraud operation that killed ten infants claimed to be a reputable medical professional in an Istanbul court on Saturday.
Dr. Firat Sari is one of 47 defendants on trial for allegedly moving newborns to private hospital neonatal units, where they were held for extended and occasionally needless medical care in exchange for social security benefits.
People trusted me, therefore they referred me to patients. Referring to Turkey’s emergency medical phone line, Sari stated, “We did not accept patients by bribing anyone from 112.”
Sari ran the newborn intensive care units at a number of private hospitals in Istanbul and is said to have been the plot’s mastermind. In a scenario when physicians, nurses, hospital administrators, and other medical personnel are charged with prioritizing financial gain over the welfare of neonates, he might receive a term of up to 583 years in jail.
Public indignation and demands for more control over the healthcare system have been triggered by the case, which surfaced last month. Since then, authorities have closed 10 of the 19 hospitals involved in the scandal and revoked the licenses.
Medisense Health Services owner Sari told the court, “I want to tell everything so that the events can be revealed.” I have a strong passion for my work. I adore my job as a doctor.
The state-run Anadolu news agency quoted an investigative report that claimed the defendants killed hundreds of babies over a significantly longer period of time, despite being charged with the negligent homicide of 10 infants since January 2023.
According to official media, more than 350 families have petitioned prosecutors or other state agencies to look into their children’s deaths.
In order to get more money from the state and families, the defendants also fabricated reports to make the baby’s health seem more bad, according to prosecutors during the trial, which began on Monday.
The primary defendants have denied any misconduct, arguing that they took the best choices possible and that they are now being punished for undesirable, unavoidable consequences.
Sari is accused of creating an organization with the intent to commit crimes, forging official documents, defrauding public institutions, and homicide by carelessness.
In a 1,400-page indictment, Sari refuted allegations that his personnel were not suitably qualified, that the neonatal facilities were understaffed, or that the babies were not given the requisite care during interrogation by prosecutors prior to the trial.
“Everything is in line with procedures,” he said in a statement to prosecutors.
Protests outside the Bakirkoy courthouse in Istanbul’s European district have called for the closure of private hospitals and the prosecution of baby killers.
Health Minister Kemal Memisoglu, the provincial health director of Istanbul at the time of some of the deaths, has also been called to resign as a result of the case. The leader of the largest opposition party, Ozgur Ozel, has demanded that all of the hospitals implicated be nationalized.
Memisoglu called the accused “bad apples” who had been weeded out in an interview with the A Haber TV program on Saturday.
He claimed that our healthcare system is among the greatest in the world. This criminal organization is extremely well-organized and extraordinary. Assessing this in the context of the entire health system is a mistake.
Additionally, Memisoglu called the allegation that he closed an investigation into the charges in 2016 while serving as Istanbul’s health director a falsehood and slander.
This week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared that individuals who caused the fatalities will face harsh punishment, but he cautioned against blaming the nation’s healthcare system exclusively.
“We will not let a few bad apples cause our health care community to suffer,” he stated.
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