Two doctors – one a candidate MP – suspended over rail inspector’s ‘bogus’ sick leave
Two doctors working at a hospital in Volos have been suspended from duty pending a disciplinary inquiry after it emerged that they granted 30 days of sick leave to a key Hellenic Railways Organization (OSE) supervisor just hours after the deadly train collision at the nearby Vale of Tempe.
The inspector was reportedly responsible for supervising the station master who was on duty in the central Greek city of Larissa on the night of last week’s collision and whose actions appear to have contributed to the accident, which claimed 57 lives.
He reportedly applied for sick leave for a month and produced a formal note to this end signed by two doctors at the Volos General Hospital, without, however, having been seen by either or having undergone any kind of medical examination.
Meanwhile, one of the two doctors involved has been identified as Nikos Haftouras, who was expected to run as MP in the region of Magnisia on the PASOK ticket in the next general election.
Following the revelations of his involvement in issuing the apparently bogus sick leave certificate, the socialist party on Tuesday decided to strike his name from its list of candidates, “even though this lapse is not directly related to the tragedy.”
