Healthcare Minister Promises to Look Into Allegations of ‘Kickbacks’ in Medical Institutions

RA Minister of Healthcare Derenik Dumanyan did not take Lyudmila Sargsyan to court; instead, he asked the RA General Prosecutor to verify her allegations and to punish the guilty, the minister himself informed members of the press today.

In an article published on Aravot.am [AM], Sargsyan, a parliamentary deputy in the Armenian National Congress faction and member of the parliamentary Standing Committee on Healthcare, Maternity, and Childhood, wrote that the "kickbacks" in medical establishments are 5–10%.

"I am grateful to Mrs. Deputy for raising this issue because I'm sure that the issue she raised currently does not exist. She had disseminated her statement when state orders were being carried out in medical institutions regarding the 5 to 10% kickbacks. I wrote to the MP and asked her to present us with data, and she replied that she is not obliged to do so. For this reason I asked the general prosecutor to look into the statement," said Dumanyan. 

The ministry, Dumanyan said, does not finance any medical institution. "Financed are medical programs that are approved by the National Assembly," he said.

Dumanyan stressed that he places great importance on Sargsyan's statement, as well as pursuing the matter so that such incidents do not go undetected.