“There are far too many clinics in our country that illegally offer unlicensed treatments — gene therapies, cell therapies, and even plasmapheresis. Take a walk through Kolonaki, in the heart of Athens, and you’ll see one of these clinics on every corner.” The words are as disarming as they are brutally honest, coming from the president of the governing committee of the Panhellenic Medical Association (PIS), Matina Pagoni, speaking to Parapolitika in the wake of the sudden, shocking death of beloved singer Giorgos Mazonakis at the age of 54 — inside one such clinic, on Karneadou Street in Kolonaki, where he suffered a cardiac arrest.
Matina Pagoni on Giorgos Mazonakis’s death: “You can’t just ‘install a machine and do plasmapheresis'”
Pagoni went on to explain that “medical procedures such as plasmapheresis are not simple and are carried out under very strict specifications and specific medical protocols. For example, they are performed exclusively within hospital settings that must have a functioning Intensive Care Unit (ICU). A hematologist, an intensivist, and specialized nurses — including one specifically trained in the use of the plasmapheresis machine — must be present. You can’t just ‘install a machine and start doing plasmapheresis.’ There is an entire mandatory institutional and medical framework that governs this.”
“Take a walk through Kolonaki and you’ll see one of these clinics on every corner.” — Matina Pagoni
Giorgos Patoulis: “The clinic in question was licensed by the Athens Medical Association in 2013 as a simple general practice”
According to the president of the Athens Medical Association (ISA), Giorgos Patoulis, the clinic in question was licensed by the ISA in 2013 as a simple general practice under the name of doctor I.T., co-located with the practice of a female doctor (I.G.) with no listed specialty. Patoulis also revealed that “during two surprise inspections carried out by ISA teams at this clinic — one in 2024 and one in 2025 — no plasmapheresis machine was found on the premises, nor had any such device been registered with the ISA by the clinic. However, during the most recent inspection by a three-member ISA team, two plasmapheresis machines were discovered on the premises — which is illegal.”
“The clinic in question was licensed by the ISA in 2013 as a simple general practice.” — Giorgos Patoulis
“CD34+ stem cells are used exclusively in bone marrow transplants”
And yet, on the clinic’s official website (https://the-stemcell-clinic.com/), doctor I.T. advertises his services as follows: “Led by Dr. I.T., our clinic is a beacon of hope for those seeking advanced treatments in regenerative medicine. Pioneering CD34+ stem cell therapy. Discover the transformative power of CD34+ stem cell therapy — a groundbreaking approach to treating a range of conditions, from coronary artery disease to chronic injuries, and from immune deficiencies to orthopedic conditions. At our clinic, we use the state-of-the-art Smart M-Cell 2 device to harness the body’s own healing capabilities.”
Parapolitika put a direct question on this matter to one of the country’s leading hematologists within the National Health System (NHS), who wished to remain anonymous. His response was categorical: “CD34+ stem cells are none other than primitive hematopoietic stem cells, which are used exclusively in bone marrow transplants. Beyond that, we are not talking about medicine…”
The EMA’s warning bell, sounded back in 2020, on unlicensed cell therapies
It is worth noting that the first warning bell was sounded as far back as April 28, 2020, following a referral by France to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) regarding the serious risks posed by unlicensed gene and cell therapies. Even then, the EMA warned that “patients who have received unproven or unregulated cell therapies have been reported to experience serious, and in some cases fatal, adverse effects, including infections, unwanted immune reactions, tumor formation, loss of vision, and brain hemorrhage.” The same statement noted that “cell therapies are treatments that use cells from the patient themselves or from a donor. The use of blood and cells for transplantation is an established medical practice. However, if cells are not used in the recipient for the same basic function they performed in the donor, or if they have undergone substantial modification, they are not considered transplants, and their safety and benefits cannot be taken for granted.” Furthermore, in March 2025, Greece’s National Organization for Medicines (EOF) issued a similar warning, noting that “the distribution of unlicensed ATMPs by individuals, companies, or clinics has been identified in EU countries. These include dendritic cell therapies for cancer. Unlicensed advanced therapy medicinal products have not been evaluated for safety, efficacy, or quality. As a result, their use carries serious risks, as they may cause severe adverse reactions.”
Adonis Georgiadis speaks exclusively to Parapolitika: “There was no clinic”
In an exclusive statement to Parapolitika, Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis stressed that the clinic on Karneadou Street in Kolonaki, where Giorgos Mazonakis lost his life, held no license for the “services” it appears to have been offering.
Specifically, Georgiadis told Parapolitika: “First of all, there was no clinic. It was a general practice surgery. Its license covered only a general practice, and whatever machine-based treatments were being performed there were, evidently, entirely without authorization. The rest will be resolved by the prosecutorial and other relevant authorities. But this was not a clinic.”
“It was a general practice surgery, and whatever treatments were carried out using a machine were done without any license.” — Adonis Georgiadis
The Ministry of Health’s push to regulate medical procedures
It should be noted that in recent years the Ministry of Health has been engaged in a systematic effort to establish clear institutional rules — at least at a regulatory level — for widely performed medical procedures, in order to define who may carry them out, with what training, and under what safety conditions. A prime example involves two of the most common procedures in aesthetic medicine: the application of botulinum toxin (Botox) and hyaluronic acid. Through ministerial decisions and circulars issued by Deputy Health Minister Marios Themistokleous, it was legally clarified — for instance, through the ministerial decision of April 17, 2024 — that these specific applications constitute medical procedures, while a regulatory framework was simultaneously established for how they may be performed. This same logic extends to interventions in other medical and dental procedures, including the use of nitrous oxide for sedation in dental and multi-dentist practices. Specific requirements are now in place — under the ministerial decision co-signed in March 2024 by Deputy Health Minister Eirini Agapidaki and Deputy Health Minister Marios Themistokleous — covering the required training of the healthcare professional, support staff, Immediate Life Support (ILS) readiness, necessary equipment, and the suitability of the premises. Additionally, Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis has announced plans to establish a legislative drafting committee composed of specialized physicians and legal experts, tasked with developing a comprehensive institutional framework for the proper operation of centers like the one Giorgos Mazonakis visited shortly before his death.
Published in Parapolitika
