Lodz, Poland
Polish prosecutors have charged two doctors in Lodz with “failing to assist” 18 patients—who subsequently died—in exchange for kickbacks from local funeral parlors. Police have been investigating the gruesome bribery ring in Poland’s second-largest city since January, when the national newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza ran an exposé. The paper claimed that ambulance crews were delaying their arrival at medical emergencies and sometimes administering improper drugs on purpose. The crews—which in Poland typically include doctors, not EMTs—then tipped off certain funeral parlors of the resulting deaths and collected a fee. Investigations are now under way in at least 10 other Polish cities.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.