Revelations continue to mount surrounding the internal medicine clinic in Kolonaki where Giorgos Mazonakis lost his life during a plasmapheresis procedure, as new details emerge from the on-site inspection carried out by the Athens Medical Association’s (ISA) three-member committee, alongside prosecutorial and police authorities.
“The doctor told us the machine requires preparation time, and the 42-minute period that had been recorded was, according to her, preparation time. I asked her to give us a demonstration of the procedure, as if I had come in for plasmapheresis. She actually started it up, took out the filters — and complained a little about their cost, telling me they run about €220,” said Polytimi Leonardou, president of the inspection committee and treasurer of the Athens Medical Association, speaking to MEGA.
“In July, she came to the Medical Association and submitted a document — which her lawyer also references — a paper for the attachment of a removal device, along with a photograph. That photograph wasn’t particularly informative, because if you look at the machine, it’s very distinctive and large, and we were obligated, based on that document, to carry out an inspection. Since the summer break intervened, the very first thing our inspection committee was going to do was go and take a look.”
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“The machine wasn’t there during a previous inspection — no formal complaint was officially recorded with the ISA”
“During a previous inspection — because this wasn’t the first time I had visited this clinic — that machine was not there. As the Medical Association, our three-member committees are obligated to record whether clinics meet legal requirements in terms of technical standards — meaning the premises and conditions required for a legally operating clinic. We go in with an engineer and doctors, and we document the clinics in terms of their lawful operation based on criteria relating to the spaces and the procedures being performed.”
She also noted that no formal complaint had been officially recorded with the ISA, although there were rumors circulating about the alternative therapies being offered at the clinic.
Giorgos Mazonakis case: “We did not detect a plasmapheresis machine in 2025”
She emphasized that during previous ISA inspections, the disputed plasmapheresis machine had not been detected, although an earlier inspection had uncovered a centrifuge device.
“In 2025, during the summer inspection carried out by a different three-member committee — which was prompted by an attachment to an already existing machine — I must point out that the way paperwork is submitted to the Athens Medical Association is also misleading. The written notification referred to an attachment to an already existing machine. No plasmapheresis machine was found during any of the Athens Medical Association’s inspections.”
“In July 2025, a space that had been recorded as auxiliary was found to be in use as an examination room, along with a centrifuge machine. The committee recommended its removal and compliance with spatial regulations, so that the Medical Association could return for a follow-up inspection to confirm that everything was being adhered to.”
“In September, the three-member committee went back and found no one there. In November, with me now serving as committee president, we found the internist. The clinic in question holds a license for an internal medicine practice co-located with a non-specialist physician. During that inspection, the non-specialist doctor did not appear. The internist showed up and received us courteously. We inspected the premises and observed an ozone therapy machine and a hydrotherapy machine. We did not see a plasmapheresis machine.”
“Not only had the centrifuge machine not been removed, but we found it hidden inside a cupboard — and it had now been replaced with a brand-new, latest-generation model.”
As Ms. Leonardou stressed, the ISA moved swiftly to take appropriate action following the tragic incident, sealing the clinic and requesting the revocation of the medical licenses of the doctors involved.
“From the moment we became aware of the plasmapheresis machines, we requested that the Panhellenic Medical Association revoke their licenses to practice. We permanently closed the clinic. We took equivalent action against the internist as well, who had distanced himself from his wife in connection with the Mazonakis incident.”
