Doctors arrested in Samos over bogus health certificates

Six doctors and three nurses working at a hospital on the eastern Aegean island of Samos have been arrested on suspicion of issuing bogus medical certificates to asylum seekers, for a fee, so as to facilitate their transfer to the mainland on health grounds.

Among the medical conditions that merit transfer from Samos are ones that cannot be adequately treated by the island’s hospitals, such as tuberculosis or the urgent need for complicated surgery that can only be performed at larger facilities on the Greek mainland.

Suspicions of foul play fist emerged in May after hospital authorities noticed that many of the certificates issued were the same and mentioned conditions that were not usually dealt with at the hospital.

Authorities said Wednesday it was not yet clear how many certificates were issued or who benefited from them.

An interpreter has also been arrested.