Skopje, 12 May 2023 (MIA) — Ahead of the May 12 hearing in the fraud case against heart surgeon Zhan Mitrev and his private hospital, a group of people gathered in front of the Skopje Criminal Court to support the defendant.

Mitrev is on trial for criminal charges of fraud under Article 247 of the Criminal Code. He is charged with concealing key facts regarding hemofiltration and misleading patients by withholding information on the possible risks of complications arising from the blood filtration method so he could make illegal profits.

Last July, the national broadcaster aired "Bad Blood," an Investigative Reporting Lab documentary on Skopje's Zhan Mitrev Clinical Hospital. The film stirred great public outrage and prompted the Public Prosecutor's Office to launch an investigation into the work of the hospital and Mitrev himself.

The documentary claimed that the private hospital, which was charging patients exorbitant prices for Covid-19 treatment, used a blood filtration method as part of a clinical study not reported to or approved by the national Agency for Medicines and Medical Equipment.

On their website, the IRL team said they had received numerous complaints by citizens – including a report of charges being filed against the hospital and its staff on behalf of a patient who died from sepsis at the hospital.

According to IRL, COVID-19 patients, without knowing they were the subject of a clinical trial, were offered blood filtration as the only cure for the virus and were charged thousands of euros for it.

In addition, the hospital never reported any hospital-acquired infections to the Center for Public Health despite their legal obligation to do so. In the documentary, patients' families claimed hospital-acquired infections caused their loved ones to die.

Judge Lidija Petrovska is presiding over Mitrev's fraud trial and the prosecution is led by public prosecutor Iskra Hadzhi Vasileva. mr/