The Athens Medical Association has launched an investigation into a private doctor’s office in central Athens where Greek singer Giorgos Mazonakis, 54, suffered cardiac arrest during a scheduled treatment before his death on Wednesday.
Association President Giorgos Patoulis said an emergency three-member committee would inspect the Kolonaki practice to determine whether its operations complied with its license.
The investigation follows Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis’ statement that the facility was licensed as a private internal medicine practice, rather than a clinic. Georgiadis said he asked the association, which is responsible for overseeing private medical practices, to conduct an immediate inspection.
The review will examine the equipment at the practice, the medical procedures performed or scheduled there, and the conditions under which services were provided.
Reports Wednesday suggested Mazonakis was at the medical practice to undergo plasmapheresis, a procedure in which blood is removed from the body, the plasma – its liquid component – is separated out and the remaining blood components are returned to the patient. A hematologist told Kathimerini that the procedure is used to treat specific medical conditions by removing harmful substances from the plasma.
