A criminal investigation into a private Thessaloniki clinic that illegally operated a fully equipped oncology unit has widened into a broader fraud probe, with authorities examining how a network of doctors allegedly prescribed cancer medications directly to unsuspecting patients who then obtained the drugs through Greece's national health insurer.
By Vassilis Venizelos
According to well-placed sources cited by iefimerida, the scheme allegedly defrauded EOPYY, Greece's public health insurance fund, with both cancer patients and non-cancer patients unknowingly prescribed oncology drugs by doctors involved in the network — raising unresolved questions about the true health risks patients may have faced as a result.
EOPYY administrator Athanasios Zamanis ordered the fund to begin terminating its contract with the clinic last week and to pursue recovery of payments made to it since 2021-2022, after receiving a report from Greece's National Transparency Authority (EAD).
The EAD's investigation found the clinic operated a fully equipped oncology department without a license, staffed by an uncontracted pulmonologist specializing in lung cancer, while lacking adequate medical and nursing personnel and an operational intensive care unit.
Investigators found the doctor had been prescribing chemotherapy drugs from the clinic's office since 2022 before personally administering them in the unlicensed oncology unit.
The EAD recommended permanent closure of the clinic, revocation of its operating license, administrative sanctions, and stricter documentation requirements for future clinic inspections nationwide.
Its findings have been forwarded to the Athens Appeals Prosecutor, EOPYY, and the relevant Medical Association.