Workers filed complaint upon discovering newborn insurance scam in 2018, nurse says

Duvar English

Taner Karataş, a 25-year-old intensive care nurse, told İhlas News Agency (İHA) that he worked briefly at hospitals in 2018 where insurance fraud caused the deaths of newborns and reported the issue to the Health Ministry after resigning with his colleagues.

An Istanbul prosecutor has indicted 47 people, including doctors and nurses, over the inappropriate treatment of babies for profit, causing the death of at least 12 newborns in one of Turkey's biggest health scandals in recent years.

The Health Ministry has shut down nine private hospitals as a result of the investigation, with a total 19 health institutions deemed to bear responsibility, the indictment said.

Karataş stated that he worked for two weeks at TRG Hospitalist in Istanbul’s Bağcılar district, where the scheme was being operated, and which has since had its license revoked.

"I have also served on external shifts at other closed hospitals. I know many of the people mentioned (in the indictment). We worked together and received orders from them. I was aware of this situation when I left the hospital, which is why I resigned. My three friends and I realized it in the second week and resigned, and we filed a complaint (to the Health Ministry)," he said.

Intensive care nurse further explained the patient transfer process, "The emergency health service calls the hospital and speaks with the doctor. In the hospital where I worked, this responsibility fell to the charge nurse. She presented herself as a doctor even though she was actually a nurse. After introducing herself as a doctor, the charge nurse takes over the patient, and the patient's relatives recognize her as a doctor."

The suspects were accused of creating a criminal group to put newborns in intensive care units in certain private hospitals and receive payments from Turkey's Social Security Institution (SGK) for inappropriate and sometimes fake treatments, the prosecutor stated in the indictment.

Karataş argued that the scheme in the hospitals started right after the patients arrive, and said "After the patient is admitted, the intensive care provided is inadequate, and their treatment is incomplete. The recovery process is prolonged, and even if the patient improves, they are not discharged. They are exposed to intensive care infections, and by the end of the process, the patient loses their life. I have never worked in the neonatal section, but the process operates the same way there."

'Hospital corrected everything after learning about inspection beforehand'

The nurse stated that even newly graduated friends of his did not want to work in these hospitals because they were either pushed into or involuntarily became members of this network.

"This is known by everyone working in the intensive care units. The cleaning staff knows, the auxiliary personnel knows, and sometimes even the patients' relatives understand, but they remain silent because they have no choice but to trust. After my complaint, inspectors from the Health Ministry did go to that hospital, but the hospital was informed of the inspection beforehand and corrected everything," he added.

The suspects, including two doctors and 11 nurses, denied the charges, saying they had not intentionally sent the newborns to particular hospitals and that the babies had received the necessary treatment, the indictment said.

The charges the suspects face include forming a criminal group, fraud, forgery of official documents and murder by negligence. Some defendants could be sentenced to as many as 589 years in jail if found guilty.

Twenty-two suspects have been jailed pending trial.

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