Healthcare unions and professional organizations and opposition party members gathered outside the İstanbul Provincial Health Directorate yesterday to protest the so-called "Newborn Gang," an alleged criminal network in the healthcare sector linked to the deaths of at least 12 infants.
According to an indictment filed on Oct 16, the gang, composed of doctors and emergency call center workers, exploited newborns with health problems to generate illegal profits. The group allegedly referred newborns to private hospitals where they had connections, which administered unnecessary treatments to charge the families and the Social Security Institution (SGK) resulting in significant financial gains. In some cases, the hospitals lacked the resources to provide adequate care, which led to the death of babies.
Investigation exposes health sector financial crime scheme responsible for at least 12 infant deaths
In protest of this scheme, the organizations released a joint statement, condemning the lack of oversight and the broader systemic issues they believe contributed to the crimes.
The protest was organized by the İstanbul Medical Chamber (İTO), the Confederation of Public Workers' Unions (KESK), the Revolutionary Health Workers’ Union (Dev Sağlık İş), and the Health and Social Service Workers' Union (SES).
Head of the İstanbul Medical Chamber, Prof. Osman Küçükosmanoğlu, said that the gang members who threatened prosecutors should face severe punishment, but also pointed out that the problem extends beyond individual accountability. "This is a systemic issue. The real culprits are the Health Directorate, the Health Ministry, the government, and the palace [the president]," he said.
Sağlık meslek örgütlerinden İstanbul İl Sağlık Müdürlüğü önünde ‘Yenidoğan Çetesi’ protestosu@istabip Yönetim Kurulu Başkanı Osman Küçükosmanoğlu: “Olay sistem sorunudur. Sistemin sorumluları, Sağlık Müdürlüğü, Sağlık Bakanlığı, hükümet ve saraydır.”
— bianet (@bianet_org) October 21, 2024
📹: @alidnc4 pic.twitter.com/KLHcGtfZzk
‘Patients as customers’
KESK Co-Chair Ayfer Koçak remarked, "Unregulated power, unregulated privatization, and unchecked crony capitalism have led us to this point."
Nursel Yücesoy, Secretary for Women’s Affairs at SES, said, "When patients are seen as customers, this is where it leads.
Erdoğan Demir, general secretary of the Dev Sağlık İş union, called for the immediate resignation of those responsible and urged the nationalization of private hospitals. "Our urgent demand is for the resignation of the Health Minister and all others accountable. All private hospitals should be nationalized without delay.”
Demands for reform
Following the health unions' protest, representatives from 20 separate unions and experts under the “Give Me My Right” campaign also made a public statement.
The group, holding banners that read, “Nationalize Private Hospitals! Give us free healthcare!” outlined their demands:
“All private hospitals must be nationalized. Everyone responsible for negligence must be held accountable. Former Health Minister Fahrettin Koca should face trial. The political connections of the suspects must be uncovered."
CHP joins protests
Later in the day, members of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) gathered outside the Provincial Health Directorate to protest.
Zeliha Aksaz Şahbaz, CHP’s Deputy Chair responsible for health affairs, held Health Minister Kemal Memişoğlu and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan responsible for the infant deaths.
"President Erdoğan must resign. He is responsible for this massacre. He is accountable for the deaths of babies, women, and workers," Şahbaz said. (AD/VK)