An alarming scandal involving the inappropriate treatment of newborns for purposes of profit has raised serious concerns about the privatization of Turkey’s healthcare system, highlighting potential regulatory failures and ethical lapses at private medical institutions.
The scandal, which has resulted in the tragic death of at least 12 newborns, marking one of the largest healthcare crises in Turkey in recent years, is still sending shockwaves across the country as new details emerge.
As part of an investigation into the scandal, İstanbul prosecutors indicted 47 people, including two doctors and 11 nurses, for their roles in the inappropriate treatment of newborns for purposes of profit.
Reuters said in a report on Monday, citing the 1,399-page indictment filed at an İstanbul court last week, that Turkey’s 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 suspects are accused of creating a criminal group to put newborns in certain private hospitals and receive payments from Turkey’s Social Security Institution (SGK) for inappropriate and sometimes fake treatments. Two of the suspects, working on an emergency phone line, had sought newborns that could be sent to these hospitals for intensive care.
The newborns then became the victims of malpractice or inadequate medical care, with medicine meant for them sold to others and some dying due to infections contracted in the intensive care units, according to Reuters.
The goal of the criminal gang was “to obtain financial gain, rather than improving the health of the patients,” the indictment said.
The charges the suspects face include forming a criminal group, fraud, forgery of official documents and death by negligence, Reuters said, adding that some defendants could be sentenced to as many as 589 years in prison if found guilty.Twenty-two suspects have been jailed pending trial.
The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has sought a parliamentary inquiry into the affair and called for the resignation of Health Minister Kemal Memişoğlu, who has stated that his ministry’s inspections of hospitals will now be carried out “more strictly than ever.”
The so-called “newborn gang” was initially identified due to an anonymous tip sent to the Presidential Communications Center (CİMER) on March 27, 2023.
The scandal has raised serious concerns about the privatization of Turkey’s healthcare system, a topic that has been a point of contention in recent years.
The Health Ministry’s latest statistics from 2022 show that private hospitals have the majority of neonatal intensive care unit beds in Turkey, having 14 percent more newborn intensive care beds than public hospitals. Furthermore, the number of private hospitals soared from 271 in 2002 to 572 in 2022, while the increase in public hospitals during the same period was only 18.22 percent, according to the Aposto news website.
The origins of Turkey’s current healthcare framework can be traced back to a reform report presented by the World Bank in June 2002, which laid the groundwork for the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) health policies. Following this, the Health Transformation Program enabled social security institutions to purchase services from private hospitals, significantly increasing healthcare expenditures.
Healthcare professionals, including Dr. Güray Kılıç from the Turkish Medical Association (TTB), have condemned the profit-driven practices of private hospitals, calling for accountability and reforms.
“We demand that the real culprits be held accountable. The current healthcare model, where nearly half of intensive care beds are controlled by the private sector, raises urgent questions about the motivations behind these hospital practices,” Kılıç told Aposto.
With millions struggling to afford health insurance and access quality care, many citizens fear the implications of prioritizing profit over patient welfare.
Turkey’s health expenditure ranks among the lowest in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, with only 4.3 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) allocated to healthcare. Individual out-of-pocket expenses for healthcare rose dramatically in 2022, reaching nearly TL 112 billion, a staggering 98.8 percent increase from the previous year.
Meanwhile, Yavuz Engin, the prosecutor leading the investigation into the “newborn gang,” revealed that he has been the target of death threats.
In August 2024 Aylin Arslanatar, a lawyer, threatened Engin, saying that if certain suspects were not released, he would be murdered and harm would come to his family. Along with Arslanatar, Mustafa Kemal Zengin, later determined to be a former high-ranking official, also threatened the prosecutor.
“We will continue on the same path,” the prosecutor stated despite the danger, reaffirming his commitment to pursuing justice in the case.
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