Skopje, 15 May 2026 (MIA) — The Ministry of Health, to protect patient confidentiality, will not release the full report by the foreign expert committee that found evidence of unnecessary heart procedures in local hospitals, Minister of Health Azir Aliu told MIA.

Aliu said that under the Law on the Protection of Patients' Rights, medical data must remain private. He said that simply removing patient names was not enough to ensure anonymity. 

"Through a combination of diagnoses, dates, institutions, types of interventions, clinical courses and other medical details, patients could still be identified," the health minister said.

He said the report will be submitted to the authorities, including the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

"The potential next steps, including whether additional forensic analysis will be requested, are within the competence of the Public Prosecutor's Office, not the Ministry of Health," Aliu said.

Previously, the health minister said the foreign experts found evidence of unwarranted heart surgeries and questionable diagnostic reports in nine of the 13 cases they reviewed. 

He announced the findings Thursday. The committee had been formed by the Ministry of Health to investigate patient complaints, following concerns raised by heart surgeon Sashko Kedev. The review included both public and private clinics, involving patients aged 45 to 78.

The patients had been treated at the University Clinic of Cardiology, the University Clinic for Cardiac Surgery, the Shtip Clinical Hospital, September 8 General City Hospital, Shtip's Cardio Art Clinic, Zhan Mitrev Clinical Hospital and Acibadem Sistina Clinical Hospital.

The committee pointed to several "suspicious" findings, including discrepancies between actual angiographic data and written medical reports as well as inappropriate treatment.

According to the experts, patients underwent endovascular or surgical procedures that were not medically indicated. Also, they found that management of these cases was below professional standards, potentially harming patient outcomes.

Their findings largely mirrored an earlier report by a committee of local experts that worked independently, the health minister said. mr/