Doctors held in Greece after music star dies during plasma treatment

• Two doctors in Greece were arrested after music star Giorgos Mazonakis died of cardiac arrest during a plasma exchange treatment at a private clinic.
• Plasma exchange is a complex, risky procedure meant for hospitals, but anti-ageing clinics operate in a legal grey area without clear regulations.
• Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis confirmed the clinic's activity was illegal and promised to re-evaluate the framework governing such treatments in Greece.

ATHENS – Two doctors have been placed under arrest in Greece after a prominent music star died during a blood cleaning treatment, raising questions about private clinic licences in the country.

Giorgos Mazonakis, 54, died of cardiac arrest on Sept 9 during a plasma exchange appointment, a treatment used to remove harmful elements from the bloodstream.

Originally employed to treat disorders such as multiple sclerosis, plasma exchange has increasingly been used as an anti-ageing and longevity treatment.

Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis said the framework governing anti-ageing clinics in Greece was a “grey area” that would be re-evaluated.

“Currently there is no framework,” he told Action24 TV. “This medical field has advanced rapidly, overtaking existing laws.”

Mazonakis was one of Greece’s best-known pop stars, with multiple hits and platinum albums to his name during a career spanning over three decades.

He was scheduled to stage a retrospective concert in Athens on Sept 20.

The doctors, who are a couple, deny any responsibility and insist Mazonakis lost consciousness before the treatment began.

Several officials have stated that plasma exchange is a complicated and occasionally risky procedure that requires a full medical team, and is not something that should be done at a private clinic.

“It is absolutely certain that the activity was illegal,” Georgiadis told state TV ΕΡΤ on Sept 11.

“It is forbidden to carry out (plasma exchange) outside a hospital environment,” he said, adding that the clinic had a pathology practice licence.

However, the suspects’ lawyer Nikos Agapinos told reporters that it was “a legal clinic with properly registered equipment”.

The couple were initially released after questioning on Sept 9, but detained on Sept 10 after police reportedly found discrepancies in their testimony.

It is believed that contrary to the doctors’ testimony, Mazonakis had already begun the treatment when he lost consciousness. AFP