Health workers go on trial in Turkey accused of private care scheme linked to 10 infant deaths

ISTANBUL — Doctors, nurses and an ambulance driver are among 47 people on trial accused of causing the deaths of 10 infants as part of an alleged scheme to defraud Turkey’s social security system.

The defendants are accused of transferring babies to neonatal units of 19 private hospitals where the infants were allegedly kept for prolonged and sometimes unnecessary treatments. At least 10 newborns are alleged to have died in the past year due to neglect or malpractice in facilities that were unprepared to treat them.

Prosecutors at the trial, which opened in Istanbul on Monday, say the defendants also falsified reports to make the babies’ condition appear more serious with the aim obtaining payments from the social security institution.

The main defendants have denied any wrongdoing, insisting they made the best possible decisions and face punishment for unavoidable unwanted outcomes.

The case, which emerged last month, has sparked public outrage and calls for a greater oversight of the health care system. Authorities have since revoked the licenses and closed nine of the 19 hospitals that were implicated in the scandal.

Dr. Firat Sari, the main defendant who operated the neonatal intensive care units of several private hospitals in Istanbul, is facing a sentence of up to 583 years in prison.

He is charged with establishing an organization with the aim of committing a crime, defrauding public institutions, forgery of official documents, and homicide by negligence.

During questioning by prosecutors, Sari denied accusations that the babies were not given the proper care, that the neonatal units were understaffed or that his employees were not appropriately qualified, according to a 1,400-page indictment.

He told prosecutors: “Everything is in accordance with procedures.”

Dozens of demonstrators joined protests outside the courthouse, chanting: “Baby killers will be held accountable” and “‘Private hospitals should be shut down.”

Over 350 families have petitioned prosecutors or other state institutions seeking investigations into the deaths of their loved ones, according to state media.

Among them is Hacire Akinci, 42, who lost her baby last year after eight years of fertility treatments.

“They gave us a medical report that said the baby had died of natural causes. But apparently that wasn't the case,” she told reporters outside the courthouse. “I want charges to be brought, I want justice to be served.”

The case has led to calls for the resignation of Health Minister Kemal Memisoglu, who was the Istanbul provincial health director at the time some of the deaths occurred. Ozgur Ozel, the main opposition party leader, has called for all hospitals involved to be seized by the state and nationalized.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said those responsible for the deaths would be severely punished but warned against placing all the blame on the country’s health care system.

“We will not allow our health care community to be battered because of a few rotten apples,” said Erdogan.

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Associated Press writer Suzan Fraser contributed from Ankara, Turkey.