Skopje, 13 March 2024 (MIA) — The fraud trial of Zhan Mitrev continued Wednesday with testimonies by Infectious Diseases Commission chair Aleksandar Petlichkovski and former Clinic for Infectious Diseases director Milena Stevanovikj.

According to Petlichkovski, the Infectious Diseases Commission had never recommended blood filtration as a routine method for treating patients infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.

"The document authorizing hemofiltration as a method of treating Covid, issued by the American Food and Drug Administration, regulates the application of hemofiltration in severely ill Covid-19 patients, in a situation where all other methods of treatment have been exhausted," Petlichkovski said.

He added that blood filtration could only be used "in strictly regulated situations."

The former head of the Skopje Clinic for Infectious Diseases said she had been part of the three-member commission formed by the Ministry of Health at the start of the pandemic and that this commission, regarding hemofiltration as a treatment method, had said it should not be used for routine treatment.

Asked what patients or patients' families should know before agreeing to hemofiltration, Stevanovikj said they needed to be told clearly about the possible risks. "The method is invasive and new," she said, adding it was used only as a last resort when treating severe cases. 

"Each quasi-method has its own side effects that cannot be predicted or prevented," she continued, allowing that "hemofiltration can be useful for a patient to get a chance."

Mitrev is on trial for criminal charges of fraud under Article 247 of the Criminal Code.

He is charged with concealing key facts regarding hemofiltration and misleading patients by withholding information on the possible risks of complications arising from the blood filtration method so he could make illegal profits.

Last July, the national broadcaster aired "Bad Blood," an Investigative Reporting Lab documentary on Skopje's Zhan Mitrev Clinical Hospital. The film stirred great public outrage and prompted the Public Prosecutor's Office to launch an investigation into the work of the hospital and Mitrev himself.

The documentary claimed that the private hospital, which was charging patients exorbitant prices for Covid-19 treatment, used a blood filtration method as part of a clinical study not reported to or approved by the national Agency for Medicines and Medical Equipment.

On their website, the IRL team said they had received numerous complaints by citizens – including a report of charges being filed against the hospital and its staff on behalf of a patient who died from sepsis at the hospital.

According to IRL, COVID-19 patients, without knowing they were the subject of a clinical trial, were offered blood filtration as the only cure for the virus and were charged thousands of euros for it.

In addition, the hospital never reported any hospital-acquired infections to the Center for Public Health despite their legal obligation to do so. In the documentary, patients' families claimed hospital-acquired infections had caused their loved ones to die.

Judge Lidija Petrovska is presiding over Mitrev's fraud trial and the prosecution is led by public prosecutor Iskra Hadzhi Vasileva. The next hearing is scheduled for April 1. mr/