The death of renowned Greek singer Giorgos Mazonakis has prompted numerous inspections at private clinics and healthcare centers across Greece. On Monday evening, authorities ordered the closure of a private clinic in Thessaloniki after discovering that it was operating an unauthorized oncology unit where chemotherapy was being administered without the required license.
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An inspection by the National Transparency Authority found that the clinic had set up a fully equipped oncology unit, including facilities for preparing chemotherapy drugs. This activity was not covered by its license.
The investigation found that a pulmonologist specializing in lung oncology was working at the clinic without a written contract. Since 2022, he had been prescribing chemotherapy drugs to patients, while the treatments were administered in the unauthorized unit.
Inspectors also identified a shortage of the required number of nurses and doctors in several mandatory specialties. In addition, the Intensive Care Unit was not operational, although it was provided for in the clinic’s license.
Another finding concerned patients admitted with diagnoses unrelated to cancer who had nevertheless received chemotherapy drugs during their stay at the clinic. Authorities are examining whether inaccurate information was submitted in these cases to EOPYY, Greece’s public health insurance fund, for the purpose of reimbursing the hospital stays.
Violations at the clinic had also been identified earlier. The staffing shortage was first recorded in 2025. At the beginning of 2026, the clinic’s certificate of regular operation was revoked and its permanent closure was recommended, but it continued operating. It has now been decided that its license will be revoked and the clinic closed, while the case file has been forwarded to the Prosecutor’s Office.
The developments in Thessaloniki come just weeks after Giorgos Mazonakis died during a plasmapheresis procedure at a private center in Athens. The singer’s case highlighted major gaps in the oversight of the private healthcare sector and was followed by renewed inspections across Greece.
Using the new MedWatch system, authorities have scanned thousands of clinics, medical offices, aesthetic centers and other private facilities. In the first phase, 231 facilities in Attica alone were classified as “red” because they showed indications requiring immediate inspection. Another 424 were placed in the “yellow” category and will be reinspected. These classifications do not mean that all the facilities are illegal, but that they contain elements requiring on-site verification.
The inspections cover private clinics, polyclinics, medical offices, aesthetic centers, spas, as well as businesses advertising medical services without being authorized to provide them.
The issue has also triggered sharp political clashes. Opposition parties accuse the government of failing to adequately oversee private clinics and of allowing the problems to go unsupervised for years.
