Romanian healthcare minister steps down following diluted disinfectant scandal

Romanian Healthcare Minister Patriciu Achimas-Cadariu has stepped down amid accusations that he did not correctly manage the diluted disinfectant crisis. Prime-Minister Dacian Ciolos has accepted his resignation.

“I have accepted today Mr. Patriciu Achimaș-Cadariu’s resignation from the healthcare minister position. Over the next period, I will propose to Romanian president Klaus Iohannis a new healthcare minister,” said the PM in a press release.

This is the fourth minister that leaves the Ciolos administration in less than a month.

The minister has stepped down amid accusations that he lied in a press conference when he said he could not publish the list of hospitals where tests revealed malfunctions, under the pretext that the case if currently under investigation.

However, following public pressure, the list of hospitals where tests proved that medical norms were not respected was published on Friday evening. The list includes 50 hospitals, of which 9 are in Bucharest.

Hundreds of people protested at Universitate Square on Friday asking for the eradication of corruption in the Romanian public healthcare system.

Another spin of the investigation about the diluted disinfectants case carried out by Gazeta Sporturilor shows that the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) knew about the situation.

“We have sent notifications about the poor quality of some disinfectants used in hospitals,” said the SRI source. However, the health ministers have denied that they received such notifications.

According to the SRI press release: “In the notification documentation sent to legal beneficiaries regarding the issue of hospital-acquired infections, there were also notifications regarding the poor quality of the disinfectants used in hospitals across the country. Among the legal beneficiaries of our notifications regarding this issue there were the county councils presidents, prefects, ministers, the prime-minister, the Romanian president. All these legal beneficiaries received constant notifications, each according to their attributions, regarding the malfunctions in the Romanian public healthcare system.”