“Tell me how much to give,” one of these records recorded T. Tarasevičius, a patient who came to the doctor’s office, asking about illegal monetary compensation for the planned leg operation.
“Give three hundred. Well, how much … Well, it doesn’t matter … As much as you can, and so on …
The patient, waiting for nothing, pulled the envelope out of his handbag and handed it to the doctor.
“Four give, ane?” – the doctor was even surprised that the woman was giving him more money than he had asked for.
The money that T. Tarasevičius received from the patients was taken out of the doctor’s robe every time they left the office and recalculated.
Secretly watching the doctor’s office STT agents found that he had illegally received € 1,450 from six patients, with women giving between € 100 and € 400 to the doctor.
The doctor T. Tarasevičius, who was prosecuted, did not deny that he was receiving monetary compensation from the patients – he realized that the officials had recorded the transfer of money, so there was no point in denying the obvious facts.
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During a survey, he said he never asked patients for money, saying they wanted to thank them in advance for future surgeries.
“All but one of the patients handed me envelopes with money or cash on their own initiative, and I did not ask patients or provoke me to give me money,” T. Tarasevičius said.
The one patient who allegedly started asking about the reward on her own initiative was the woman the doctor told her to give three hundred.
“She started the conversation about the money herself, asking how much to give, I answered maybe three, referring to 300 Euros, but she decided and gave 400 Euros,” the doctor assured, realizing that he had acted illegally in accepting the rewards given to him. “I am very sorry about that, but I did not demand the money and I provided the same treatment to the patients, whether they paid for it or not.”
That is why, in the doctor’s opinion, the criminal offenses committed by him are less dangerous than the usual acts of bribery, when the person taking the bribe takes the initiative.
After initiating a pre-trial investigation into bribery, T. Tarasevičius transferred the money he had received as a bribe to the General Prosecutor’s Office’s account.
The doctor also claimed that he had taken money from patients because his family’s financial situation was “quite difficult” – the spouse was unable to work due to his health condition and was receiving a disability pension.
Patients who gave bribes to the doctor were also interviewed by STT agents who initiated an investigation into the doctor’s bribery.
A woman who went to the Vilnius City Clinical Hospital for surgery on her right leg vein told officials that the doctor who invited her to the office before the surgery wanted to have her leg examined.
“After the examination, the doctor told me to prepare for the operation – out of joy that the doctor quickly accepted me and I didn’t have to wait in line, he immediately announced the date of the operation, and I put an envelope containing 200 Eur in the pocket of his medical gown,” she admitted. “The doctor saw me put an envelope of money in his robe pocket.”
Due to the leg operation, another woman came to T. Tarasevičius’ office – she was also examined before the operation, during this visit she also placed an envelope containing 100 Eur in the robe pocket of the surgeon.
“Doctor T. Tarasevičius did not ask me for money, I wanted to reward him for being pleasant,” the woman said, knowing that the leg vein surgery was free, so she gave the money to the doctor as a thank you.
“It simply came to our notice then bribe“I didn’t think it was illegal,” she said.
The woman, who gave 400 Eur at that time, although she asked for a smaller amount, told the STT researchers that she had visited the doctor’s office more than once, but had given a bribe just before the operation.
“Before the operation, the doctor wanted to examine my leg again, I asked him how I could reimburse him, and the doctor replied that in order to reimburse the doctor, I put € 400 in the envelope and handed it over to him,” he said. woman.
Just before the operation, T. Tarasevičius also invited another patient to the examination room, who presented the doctor with an envelope with 200 Eur.
“The doctor put the money in a bathrobe pocket, he didn’t ask me to pay – it was a thank you,” she said.
And yet another patient said during a survey that the doctor had demanded money from her, even though she knew the cost of the leg surgery was covered by the state.
“During the consultation, I asked doctor T. Tarasevičius if the ulcerative leg wound surgery would be performed for me free of charge, and he replied that like him, but 280,” the woman said. – I realized that I would have to pay 280 Eur. Since my leg hurt a lot, I didn’t answer him anything. During the next consultation, the doctor listed me what bandages I would need to have during the operation and told me that, as he said, 300-350 Eur and that’s it. I had a lot of pain in my leg and it didn’t matter if it was 280 euros or 300-350 euros. “
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The woman handed over the money to the doctor just before the operation: “I put 300 Eur in an envelope, which I handed to him in the hands – after all, he demanded it from me, I was afraid that if I did not give the money, he would not have surgery.”
The woman who was forced to give a bribe to the doctor during the interrogation also complained about the doctor’s behavior: “After the operation, he didn’t even come to see how I felt.”
T. Tarasevičius also told another patient that he would have to pay for leg vein surgery.
“During the examination, the doctor said that I would need surgery on my leg and it would cost me a little – 200-300 Eur,” the woman said. – I didn’t answer anything to the doctor. When I arrived for the pre-scheduled surgery, the doctor called me back to the examination room. Here I gave him 250 Eur. “
The woman said she did not want to pay the money at first.
“But my leg hurt a lot, I didn’t want to pay and I tried to register with another doctor, but I was told at the reception that the next ticket for the consultation was in two months,” she said. “I also went to private clinics for leg surgery, but when I found out the price, I realized that I didn’t have that option, so I had no choice and I went back to the doctor T. Tarasevičius.”
T. Tarasevičius did not escape criminal liability for taking a bribe from six patients – the court imposed a fine of 398 MGL (19,900 Eur) on him. It will have to be paid by the convicted doctor within a year. In addition, money received from him was confiscated as a bribe.
The court has also convicted the former director of Vilnius City Clinical Hospital for bribery Narimantas Markevičius, which has to pay 47.9 thousand LTL to the state budget. Eur.
STT agents recorded that N. Markevičius took bribes from 100 to 300 Eur from twelve patients, the money was usually taken in the examination room. In total, the doctor illegally received 1.9 thousand. Eur.
The doctor told the officials that a final examination of the patient – a consultation – was performed at a pre-arranged time each time before the planned operation, at least 15 minutes before the start of the operation.
During such a consultation, the patient’s state of health is examined and assessed, a medical history is drawn up, the scope of the operation and the measures required for the operation are determined. In addition, a final ultrasound examination of the patient with an ultrasound is performed, which is necessary to properly prepare for the procedure.
After that, the patient is acquainted with the course of the operation and signs all the necessary documents in the prescribed form.
“Before the operative examinations of patients performed from 2021. September. by the end of 2022 On January 7, the court stated that a part of the patients would use better operating equipment, which is not paid for by the state, after paying an additional EUR 150, the court has determined. – In this way, the patients were asked to pay extra for the operations and the patients paid him from 100 to 300 Eur. Some patients gave him between 100 and 150 Euros, others gave larger sums of money that did not exceed 300 Euros in order to personally thank them for the services provided. ”
N. Markevičius pointed out to the prosecutor’s office that he performed an average of 20 consultations of various types and 5-6 operations per week, some of which are more than a few months old, and the names and surnames of patients who have paid the specified amounts of money are not remembered.
The cases of N. Markevičius and T. Tarasevičius were separated from the pre-trial investigation conducted by the STT into alleged bribery at the Vilnius City Clinical Hospital. A pre-trial investigation into bribery is ongoing, with allegations of bribery being made against seven more doctors at the hospital. N. Markevičius is also a suspect in another investigation into large-scale systemic corruption in health care institutions during public procurement.
The Chief Prosecutor of the Vilnius Regional Prosecutor’s Office has applied to the Ministry of Health, proposing to suspend or revoke the license of Dr. N. Markevičius’ medical practice.
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