Surgeon Roman Bošnjak resigned as head of neurosurgery due to accusations about the transfer of 6,000 euros of private fees to an account in Hong Kong. As he wrote, he made a mistake because he suggested that the family transfer the payment to a company abroad instead of him.
Renowned neurosurgeon Roman Bosniak operated on a young citizen of North Macedonia in January, who, in addition to an advance payment of 27,000 euros for the operation, had to transfer an additional 6,000 euros to the doctor for a “private fee”. Patient she had to transfer the fee to the agency’s bank account in Hong Kong, Bošnjak cited tax optimization as the reason for this.
Today, Bošnjak submitted his resignation as head of the clinical department for neurosurgery at the University Hospital Ljubljana. Director of UKC Mark South explained in a statement to the media that Bosniak resigned because “no he wants anyway compromise of the process of dealing with this procedure”. “I accepted my resignation as CEO,” he explained. Jug added that he had appointed the acting head of the department to the position Boruta Prestor.
For now, the Bosniak remains employed as a neurosurgeon at the Ljubljana University Hospital. “If we find out that there are any criminal acts, of course we will act differently,” said Jug. He emphasized that from the official data they have collected so far, they cannot say that a criminal act was committed in the relationship between UKC Ljubljana and Bosniak.
Bosniak’s response: “My mistake was that I suggested the family to pay instead me transfers to a company abroad”
Neurosurgeon Roman Bošnjak announced to STA that after his return from abroad, he will cooperate with the authorities in clarifying the circumstances of the payment of the operation of a foreign citizen at UKC Ljubljana. “My mistake was that instead of a fee for the work done, I suggested to the family that they pay instead me transfers to a company abroad. As I have been alerted to the tax questionability of this transaction, I will work with the authorities upon my return to my home country to clear this up,” he asserted.
As he wrote, in the case of the demanding health condition of a girl from North Macedonia, he received a request from the family, which in hers they did not know how to help their homeland. At her express request and in agreement with her grandfather to help her, in his spare time he carried out the demanding planning of the operation and preparation for the operation in the form of an extended consultation.
As part of the consultation, due to the child’s condition, he proposed a demanding head surgery to the family, which her is also carried out by himself and which her can only be performed in a highly equipped and qualified facility. “Despite the fact that there were more options, I suggested the University Clinical Center (UKC) Ljubljana, where I have been working for 34 years and I believe in our quality work and cooperation. The operation was successful, the girl kept her hearing,” he wrote.
Nevertheless, the extremely demanding and professional intervention and successful treatment caused damage to Bošnjak and his family, his immediate team and UKC Ljubljana, so he apologizes to his colleagues. “In order to enable the smooth continuation of the work of the extremely successful clinical department for neurosurgery, I suggested to the general director of the Ljubljana University Hospital to accept mine resigns and appoints a new supervisor,” he wrote.
He added that despite the reaction of relatives and the public, he does not regret helping the child. “The intervention enabled the girl to have a full childhood and a quality life,” he wrote.
UKC was also approached by the National Investigation Office
Jug announced that they will try to make all further procedures go as smoothly as possible transparently and that they will arrive at key findings. The National Investigation Office has also contacted UKC, to which, according to Jug, they will hand over all the necessary documentation. The Ministry of Health will also receive this.
The Bosniak sent the patient’s family a preliminary invoice for the tumor removal operation in the amount of just over 27,000 euros from a private email address. The official logo of UKC Ljubljana is on the invoice. The patient’s family paid both bills, including the one for the private fee, on January 18 before the operation.
The Bosniak explained to POP TV on Wednesday that the relatives of the patient contacted him because they heard about his work and expertise. “In my spare time, I remotely examined all MRI images, results in a foreign language, etc. So I did a medical consultation and counseling. They offered me payment for mine effort, I directed them to an agency abroad, which takes care of promoting my name, and thus paid the annual membership fee,” he wrote in the explanation. But in the e-mail Bošnjak proposed the payment of the fee himself, they pointed out to POP TV.
The operation was extended by two hours
The case occurred at the neurosurgical clinic, where a younger patient with a foreign nationality was admitted on February 15. “It was an extremely complex operation for a tumor on the head in the area of the middle ear,Jug explained, adding that the treatment was successful, and the patient was discharged to home care on February 22. Patient was considered as part of self-pay services, she was issued a preliminary invoice in which the amount was estimated at 27,694 euros. A four-hour operation was assumed.
An invoice was then issued after the procedure in the amount of 34,109 euros, since the six-hour procedure was calculated, as the operation was delayed for two hours. A few extra days in intensive care were also counted, most of them discrepancies and the increase in the price was due to the fact that the operation took longer than originally planned, Jug explained.
Patient transferred EUR 27,694 as an advance to UKC on January 18, and UKC received the funds. The difference in the amount of 6,410 euros to 34,109 euros was paid later, the money arrived in the account today, UKC later announced.
UKC to change the rules, the council will also decide on chargeable operations
“Until last week, UKC Ljubljana did not have a rulebook that defined what everyone should have patientswho are cared for at UKC Ljubljana, the UKC’s expert opinion is also given.” As explained by Jug, the rules have been changed. According to the new procedure, an expert opinion within the UKC will have to be performed and charged for for each self-pay operation, even if the patient was previously treated elsewhere. Each self-pay operation will have to to be presented at the council as well.”If the procedure is too complicated and would mean too much risk for UKC, Mrs may not perform.”
“If a complication occurs during the operation, the bill can multiply three times, four times, even ten times,” Jug explained, adding that this is precisely why they have introduced a new requirement for each case to be prejudged as to whether a self-paying operation is even suitable.”Patient can expect that the cost will be significantly lower than it turns out in the end. Then we have serious problems with recovering the money, even though the service was actually needed and performed on a significantly larger scale,” he explained.
The Medical Chamber of Slovenia has called for an investigation and clarification of the events in the case of the treatment of a girl from North Macedonia as soon as possible. “The practice of highly qualified doctors offering their expertise as consultants in the international environment, it is not controversial, but it must be carried out in a legal and transparent way.” As they wrote, they advocate zero tolerance for controversial behavior, and it has already initiated procedures to clarify what is happening. It should also provide the state authorities with all the necessary professional support in handling the case.
Agency website domain Clinic Medical Link, to which the Macedonian family transferred money, was registered in Slovenia on December 18, 2013, POP TV reported. According to the Necenzurirano portal, the agency was in 2017 with less than a thousand euros of capital established in Hong Kong.
Source: Rtvslo
