A new scandal broke out in Odesa related to the supply of expired medicines as humanitarian aid to the Regional Children’s Clinical Hospital. It turned out that the expiration date of most of the medicines that arrived at the medical facility expired in 2021-2022.
As reported by the local publication “Dumska. Odesa”, humanitarian aid was sent by representatives of the “Batkivshchyna” political party, in particular the head of the local branch Dmytro Zheman, deputy head of the regional council Oleg Radkovskii, deputy of the regional council Oleksandr Barskyi and director of the charity fund “Noble Cause” Serhiy Shutov.
Among the packages handed over to the children’s hospital were expired syringes, antiseptics, vitamins, covid tests, as well as two blankets. Outraged by such “help”, doctors recorded a video message in which they publicly demonstrated expired medicines and expressed their indignation. They emphasized that the use of such medicines for the treatment of children is not only unacceptable, but also subject to criminal liability.
The scandal was further developed after a video appeared on the Internet on October 1, in which benefactors speak in raised tones with representatives of the hospital. In the conversation, the director of the “Noble Cause” foundation, Serhii Shutov, said that the doctors should have addressed him directly, instead of raising a scandal in the public space. In his opinion, the actions of medical personnel are more reminiscent of a political struggle than real care for children.
Shutov also claimed that not all of the drugs handed over were expired, and that the doctors initially accepted the entire batch of drugs without checking it properly. According to him, doctors could refuse part of the humanitarian aid at the stage of receiving it, instead of creating a scandal after the expired drugs were discovered.
