Mazonakis case: Urgent five-year prosecutorial investigation into inspections, licences and complaints

Following the death of singer Giorgos Mazonakis after undergoing plasmapheresis treatment at the medical practice on Karneadou Street, and after the two doctors charged in the case were remanded in custody, the prosecutor ordered a preliminary investigation. The prosecutorial inquiry will not be limited to the circumstances at the private medical practice on Karneadou Street where the singer suffered cardiac arrest – which is already being investigated by the investigating judge – but will also examine how the relevant bodies exercised their supervisory and regulatory responsibilities.

As a result, one of the main issues under scrutiny is whether the required inspections were carried out at the particular medical practice, which bodies conducted them and what their findings were. At the same time, the prosecutor has asked for an investigation into whether the evidence in the case points to any criminal liability on the part of the Athens Medical Association (ISA) or another competent public body.

Particular reference is also made to the use of a plasmapheresis machine. The prosecutorial investigation will examine what action had been taken by the ISA, as, according to the evidence under investigation, the particular method and the relevant equipment had already been presented at conferences as early as 2023.

Five-year inspection period

The second strand of the preliminary investigation takes on broader dimensions, as the inquiry is being extended to centres where modern regenerative therapies are administered more generally. The head of the Public Prosecutor’s Office has asked for it to be established whether, over the past five years, the ISA and other competent bodies have carried out legality inspections at similar facilities, either following complaints or on their own initiative.

As part of this process, the prosecutor is expected to examine whether the competent authorities had been aware of the operation of specific centers or of the therapeutic practices being carried out there, and whether they had proceeded with the necessary inspections or other actions.

At the same time, the prosecutorial investigation will seek evidence to establish whether there were practices that may have put patients’ health at risk or whether there were cases in which patients were misled for the purpose of obtaining financial gain.

The investigation therefore concerns not only what happened at the specific private medical practice on Karneadou Street, but also the broader framework within which facilities providing this type of therapeutic method operate.

Prosecutors will seek to gather evidence concerning operating licences, inspections, any complaints and the actions taken by the competent services, in order to establish whether there were failures in the supervisory mechanism.

At the conclusion of the preliminary investigation, it will be determined whether the evidence as a whole points to criminal offences and, if so, which individuals or bodies are connected to them.