New allegations: Investigated Romanian surgeon gave preferential treatment to dignitaries

Romanian surgeon Mihai Lucan gave preferential treatment to politicians and influential people, Vlad Voiculescu, the former health minister in the Ciolos government, said in a Facebook post. The Directorate for Combatting Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) is investigating Mihai Lucan, alongside several others, for bringing damages of over RON 5 million (EUR 1.1 million) to the Clinic Institute of Urology and Renal Transplant (ICUTR) in Cluj-Napoca. The group used the resources of the state-owned institute for the benefit of a private medical facility owned by Lucan’s family. Among those receiving preferential treatment were actor Alexandru Arşinel and musician Victor Socaciu, a former Social Democrat Party (PSD) deputy, Voiculescu said. Urology surgeon Mihai Lucan is known for treating former president Ion Iliescu and former prime minister Emil Boc. Voiculescu said there are many other similar cases in the Romanian healthcare system, which is filled with “dishonest feudal spiders making a business out of patients’ lives.” He explained he was not discussing the professional abilities of Lucan who was “up to a certain point, an exceptional surgeon and much more.”

Voiculescu also pointed to the consequences faced by those who stood up to Lucan. “For doctors and nurses, the price was, many times, their careers. If you think I’m exaggerating, read the statements of the ICUTR doctors of how Mr. Lucan sabotaged their surgeries, offended and threatened them. For Emanuel Ungureanu, who filed the complaint that lead to the opening of the DIICOT file, the price was his ICUTR job and his marginalization in certain circles in Cluj.” The former health minister said the file currently open at DIICOT is based on checks performed by the Health Ministry. Lucan was detained on December 21 and later released, after the Bucharest Court rejected DIICOT’s preventive arrest request. He is currently investigated under judicial control. Information in the DIICOT request for preventive arrest shows that Lucan contacted several influential people working in state institutions in relation to checks performed by the Health Ministry at ICUR, Mediafax reported. Victor Zota, the former head of the National Transplant Agency, is among those contacted. At the same time, legal sources told Mediafax that a diary of Lucan was found, containing data on people working in the legal system. Further investigation showed that Lucan asked his lawyer to establish a protective circle around him, Mediafax reported.