Following a suspicious rise in the number of deaths at Valiasr Hospital in Tabriz, officials confirmed on Saturday, December 21, that staff at the hospital had been injecting patients with distilled water instead of chemotherapy drugs. Four people have been arrested in connection with the matter.
After some media outlets reported that distilled water was being administered to patients instead of chemotherapy drugs at Valiasr Hospital in Tabriz, Shahriar Mokhtari, the hospital’s deputy director, confirmed the reports and announced the arrest of four individuals in relation to the incident.
He stated that in the past month, hospital authorities realized that chemotherapy drugs were not being administered to patients. “We suspected the drugs were being sold on the black market. When one of the hospital staff was caught buying and selling drugs in the market, we identified them, filed a complaint, and handed them over to the police,” he said.
According to Mokhtari, some families of cancer patients donated their loved ones’ medications after their passing. These donated drugs were supposed to be used for low-income patients, but some hospital staff sold them on the market.
The state-run Etemad newspaper reported on December 20 that the suspicious number of deaths in the chemotherapy ward of Tabriz International Hospital had significantly increased.
According to the report, the rising number of deaths and repeated complaints prompted oversight organizations to intervene in the hospital’s case, resulting in the arrest of several staff members.
The deputy director of Valiasr Hospital further announced that following the efforts of the hospital’s director and an order from the East Azerbaijan prosecutor’s office, four hospital staff members were detained.
Mokhtari stated that the individual selling the drugs on the black market was released on bail one day after their arrest.
He criticized the media for exposing the matter and added, “We are the complainants and have fully cooperated with the judiciary, providing them with all personnel data.”
