‘Doctors scared to write prescriptions in north, patients now paying the price’

Turkish Cypriot doctors said on Thursday they are now “scared to write prescriptions” as arrests continue in the ongoing fake prescription scandal.

The scandal has gripped the north in recent weeks, with a total of 50 people – including former ‘prime minister’ Sibel Siber – having been arrested as part of the police’s investigations.

Pictures of doctors and pharmacists being marched to court in handcuffs have become a daily occurrence in the north in recent weeks, with doctors, who spoke anonymously to the media, saying they are afraid to write prescriptions for fear of facing arrest.

In recent days as well, they have claimed the current arrangement between doctors and the north’s social insurance system is “insufficient” and leads to “irregular practices taking place against the will of doctors”.

As a result, patients in need of prescriptions are now saying they are unable to find a doctor to write one, meaning they are now forced to pay the full retail price of any medication they may require.

In other instances, doctors are agreeing to write prescriptions for patients, but only if the patient makes an appointment to be examined by the doctor.

This, in turn, entails a fee of 750TL (€25.27) for the patient, meaning they lose out financially whichever way they access medication.

Meanwhile, on Monday, a meeting was held regarding the situation between the north’s police chief Kasim Kuni and the leaders of all four political parties represented in ‘parliament’ regarding the scandal.

The meeting was called after opposition party CTP leader Tufan Erhurman had raised objections over the handcuffing of arrested suspects.

Following the meeting, ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel moved to reassure those concerned that investigations and arrests in the scandal would “not go on for too long”, echoing statements from his ‘labour minister’ Sadik Gardiyanoglu the previous Friday that investigations would be completed “within 10 days”.

He added: “It is a process both doctors and pharmacists should not have to experience. However, the necessary investigations must be carried out. I asked the police chief to complete investigations as soon as possible. We want this done without delay.”

Speaking specifically on the issue of handcuffing, he said the process of deciding who should be handcuffed when arrested is the result of a law which came into force in 2020, when Ersin Tatar was ‘prime minister’.

He added that “there seems to be a deficiency” in the law and said he had spoken with Bar Association President Hasan Esendagli on the matter.

“We need to update our outdated laws. I also told the Bar Association we should form a committee under the Prime Ministry and update these outdated laws. If they wish, we could also form a parliamentary committee. The important thing is to update the laws and serve the public. We can work together with both the police and the Bar Association to this end,” he said.