Suspected healthcare fraud lands doctor in jail

A Limassol judge has ordered a detained gynecologist to remain in custody for two days, as police investigators examine a complaint by an elderly patient who thought she had her uterus removed by the suspect but later learned it never happened.

According to local media, a 36-year-old medical doctor in Limassol was arrested Tuesday afternoon after a 73-year-old woman accused the gynecologist of failing to perform surgery, which she had understood as having taken place and registered in GESY, the state’s healthcare management system.

During the doctor’s remand hearing on Wednesday, prosecutors said the suspect had told the patient that she needed to have her uterus removed. After the woman visited the doctor at her private clinic, the patient was given general anesthesia for fibroid surgery, the court heard.

But a few months later the patient sought medical care again at a private clinic where doctors told her she needed to have her uterus removed, with the woman saying she already had the surgery and the physicians confirming with her that the procedure never happened.

A police report said the doctor was facing multiple charges including violation of healthcare system laws, forgery and circulation of a phony document, illegal gains under false pretenses, as well as carrying out negligent and reckless acts.

The doctor has purportedly denied any wrongdoing, with additional reports saying the patient called the gynecologist to demand an explanation and the suspect replying that she “did what had to be done.”

According to Kathimerini Cyprus, the doctor said she had told the patient she had removed fibroids outside the uterus but the patient did not understand the description after the procedure was over.

But local reports said a claim filed with GESY by the doctor initially pertained to a procedure believed to cost about €4000 and it was later modified with a different procedure that costs roughly €2000.

It has yet to be clarified whether the woman finally had her uterus removed or whether it was not medically necessary.