Skopje, 19 December 2025 (MIA) — The three foreign experts invited to participate in the investigation into the allegations of unnecessary heart surgeries in local hospitals will hold their first online meeting with the Ministry of Health's medical inquiry committee next week, Health Minister Azir Aliu told the press earlier Friday.

"All materials are currently being translated into English," Aliu said, noting that the records were extensive and the international specialists needed until next week to go over them. 

"Their first meeting, which will be online, will be held next week. I don't want to specify the date because a total of 20 people need to be coordinated," he said.

Back in August, cardiothoracic surgeon Sashko Kedev publicly questioned the medical necessity of interventional cardiology procedures done in some hospitals in the country. Those procedures allegedly included the implantation of stents to get money from the state, prompting an official investigation. 

In November, the medical inquiry committee investigating the claims said it had received 25 complaints by members of the public who believed they had undergone unnecessary cardiovascular procedures. 

The experts had gone over 19 of those cases, they said, issuing a preliminary finding that 10 of the patients had indeed undergone unnecessary surgeries at interventional cardiology units or were unnecessarily referred for them between 2022 and 2025. mr/