Ministry of Health issues statement on 'Newborn Gang'

In Istanbul, an indictment prepared by the Bakırköy Chief Public Prosecutor's Office was completed on Thursday regarding 47 suspects, 22 of whom are under arrest, who were found to have acted in collusion with the 112 Emergency Service to send infant patients to the neonatal units of private hospitals they had agreements with, thereby obtaining illicit gains and causing the deaths of some infants...

The Ministry of Health made a statement regarding the matter. The following statements were used in the announcement:

"The incident regarding individuals known in the public eye as the 'newborn gang,' who were determined to have referred infant emergency patients to the neonatal units of private hospitals they had pre-arranged with, causing their deaths and obtaining illicit gains, was identified in May 2023 through an operation conducted in cooperation with the Istanbul Provincial Health Directorate and the Police Department; criminal proceedings were initiated, and the matter was referred to judicial authorities.

Following the investigation initiated by our Ministry of Health into the activities of the hospitals in question, legal sanction processes have been activated.

As the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Turkey, we will not allow our healthcare workers, who perform their duties with devotion, save lives, and provide healing, to be held under suspicion due to individuals who engage in inhumane behavior.

We will follow the process that has been transferred to the judiciary until the very end."

OPERATIONS OF 2 HOSPITALS SUSPENDED

It has emerged that the operations of two of the 19 private hospitals, which were included in the indictment regarding the "Newborn gang" involving 47 suspects, 22 of whom are under arrest, in the capacity of "civilly liable" parties, have been suspended.