Mazzonakis Death: Judicial Investigation into IMA and the Role of Sakellaropoulou
The death of Giorgos Mazzonakis at an illegal plasmapheresis clinic in Kolonaki reveals institutional gaps in the oversight of private healthcare.
Illegal Kolonaki Clinic: Institutional Gaps and Judicial Developments Following Mazzonakis' Death
According to Newspaper of Editors, the death of Giorgos Mazzonakis at the illegal plasmapheresis clinic on Carneades Street in Kolonaki brought to light a deep institutional gap in the oversight of private healthcare — and the collapse of the supervisory mechanisms of the relevant ministry.
The Athens District Prosecutor's Office opened an urgent preliminary investigation against the Athens Medical Association (IMA), focusing on the question of whether its officials knew or should have known about the operation of the particular clinic. The judicial authorities are examining whether scheduled inspections were deliberately postponed and whether this inactivity constitutes institutional concealment.
The couple of accused doctors carried out invasive medical procedures — including plasmapheresis — without an operating licence for the specific unit and with equipment that had not been reported to the competent authorities. Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis himself admitted state responsibility for the death, describing the premises as a "so-called clinic" without the required licences.
The prosecutor's order is directed, according to the newspaper, also towards inspection services that fall under or cooperate with the Health Ministry.
The Warning That Was Not Heeded
A sole bright exception in the institutional landscape of inactivity is provided by retired Deputy Prosecutor of the Court of Cassation Virginia Sakellaropoulou. During her tenure as supervisor of the Department for the Prosecution of Cyber Crime, from 2017 to 2021, she had issued a prosecutorial order for a sweeping judicial investigation into the internet and social media, aimed at identifying illegal wellness centres and the distribution of dangerous preparations.
That investigation did not remain on paper: it resulted in arrests and the confiscation of thousands of illegal preparations. Sakellaropoulou had demonstrated that the internet had become an intractable space for the illegal distribution of "treatments" and "wellness drugs" without medical certifications.
The initiative, however, was not institutionalised as a permanent oversight mechanism. When Sakellaropoulou was promoted and stepped down from her supervisory position in 2021, the investigation "froze", leaving the market for illegal clinics to expand anew. The fate of the case remains unclear.
Domino of Judicial Developments
Beyond the main case file — with the two accused doctors already in remand — judicial developments continue. Following a request by the lawyer for the Mazzonakis family, the District Prosecutor's Office may conduct an investigation into perjury by clinic employees, who fell into serious contradictions in their testimony. One of them testified that, when the ambulance transferred the singer, she saw him "alive".
According to senior judicial sources cited by the newspaper, the investigation into the IMA and the competent authorities is set to be extended to cover all similar private clinics and wellness centres in Attica and the provinces.
"His Death Will Save Many Children"
Deeply devastated following the remand of the accused, the father of Giorgos Mazzonakis, Manolis Mazzonakis, stated: "My son's death will save many children. It will force the state to thoroughly investigate such cases."
The Mazzonakis case demonstrates, according to Newspaper of Editors, the extent to which the private wellness market operated for years without meaningful oversight — even in the "heart" of Athens.
Source: Efimerida ton Syntakton