Romanian doctors probed for re-using, against bribe, cardiac devices of illegal origin

Romanian cardiac surgeon Dan Tesloianu was put in custody for 30 days after prosecutors of the High Court (PCICCJ) indicted him for having implanted against a bribe, between 2017 and August 2022, a number of 238 cardiac devices extracted from dead patients “or from unidentified sources.”

The cardiac devices are officially covered by the national health care system in Romania under a dedicated scheme, which didn’t include the particular hospital where Tesloianu was working, though.

Judged from prosecutors’ claims, Tesloianu convinced his patients not to use new, free devices from the state (in other hospitals) but instead pay for devices of unclear origin -- some of them allegedly from dead patients. In some cases, patients didn’t need such devices at all, prosecutors claim, according to Intellinews.com.

The management of the hospital spotted the issues in mid-2022 and reported to relevant bodies, Ziua de Iasi daily reported.

Prosecutors accuse Tesloianu of abuse of office and taking bribes from patients (otherwise, the deeds wouldn’t be a crime). Four patients (of 238) are investigated for giving bribes.

Some of the patients actually didn’t need devices, but Tesloianu manipulated their health with medication such as to generate symptoms requiring implants, the prosecutors claim.

Tesloianu works for the public hospital Sfântul Spiridon in Iași but is also a shareholder of a private clinic.

(Photo source: Doberman84/Dreamstime.com)