Dr. Dan Tesloianu is accused of falsifying patient agreements for the reused pacemakers. Prosecutors claim he reimplanted 238 such devices taken from corpses in the morgue.
Authorities arrested the doctor for allegedly committing medical fraud for years and taking bribes. “The defendant was retained for exercising his medical duties defectively, by intentionally implanting a total of 238 devices extracted from corpses or form an unknown source between 2017 and 2022, thus ignoring the serious bodily harm and risk of death to his patients. He ignored the clear interdiction to reuse these devices, as stated by the law and by the manufacturer. The evidence found the defendant created a network of medical personnel who provided him with pacemakers, including those extracted from deceased patients, without complying with the legal provisions and without the consent, prior to death, of the people in question or members of their families. He then performed medical procedures to reimplant these devices, without registering them with the hospital's management,” stated the prosecutor's office.
Dr. Tesloianu earned a considerable fortune by becoming an associate of Cardiomed Clinic, with a profit of 270,000 euros in 2022. In the past few years, the clinic earned a profit of close to 1,5 million euros. He owns two homes, an apartment, and an art collection with an estimated value of 50,000 euros.
Romanian authorities organized 24 searches in four counties and confiscated the equivalent of 150,000 euros in US dollars, British pounds, Swiss francs, and more. They also took 36 paintings, which were later given to a museum in Iași. All these are believed to have originated from bribery the doctor allegedly took.
Now thousands of his former patients are wondering about the origin of their pacemakers. One of them is Ana, a 57-year-old woman from Iași who claims she had serious complications after the procedure. She was saved but released from the hospital in a deplorable state. “It was a miracle I didn’t die. The device was not implanted correctly, and it never worked. Now I’m wondering if this device was one taken from a deceased patient, and maybe that’s the reason,” stated the woman.
Another former patient who wanted to have her identity protected stated she went through seven surgeries done by Dr. Tesloianu. She says he changed her pacemaker 4-5 times but every time it came out, cracked, or caused an infection.
His attorney stated Dr. Tesloianu refused to testify in court, but he admitted he reused pacemakers taken from corpses. His reason was that of “saving lives” after a career of 21 years and over 4,000 surgeries. “Many people wouldn’t have had access to such devices. According to international treaties, you can reuse devices taken from deceased patients. Would it be ethical to die because the state doesn’t have money to pay for the devices?” said his attorney.
This explanation comes as a contradiction since pacemakers are considered to be “single-use devices.” Romanian legislation strictly forbids the reuse of pacemakers. The President of the Medical College in Iași stated that what Dr. Tesloianu did was “immoral and illegal.” He also said the costs for pacemakers are completely covered by Romanian state insurance, another contradiction to the statements of the doctor’s attorney.
