"Odrex case" exposed weaknesses in the healthcare system. The Verkhovna Rada is preparing for changes to the licensing system for private institutions

People's Deputy Viktoriia Vahner, a member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Health, Medical Care, and Medical Insurance, raised the issue of risks in licensing healthcare facilities at the last meeting. The so-called "Odrex Case" became the catalyst for this, UNN reports.

The meeting of the Verkhovna Rada medical committee was attended by a representative of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine. Following the meeting, the parties agreed that the Ministry of Health would prepare an analysis of the current system of licensing healthcare facilities and present it for further discussion at the level of the relevant committee.

"I raised the issue of risks regarding the licensing of healthcare facilities at the committee. The Ministry will conduct an analysis and discuss it with people's deputies," said Viktoriia Vahner.

This includes an analysis of existing risks and possible legislative gaps that allow medical institutions to effectively circumvent regulator sanctions. A striking example of this is the so-called "Odrex Case," which exposed the problems of the modern model of private medicine licensing in Ukraine.

Why are changes necessary?

In the "Odrex Case," the Ministry of Health faced a situation where, during an inspection of one of the clinic's legal entities, which is involved in criminal cases regarding medical negligence that could have led to the death of patient Adnan Kivan, the clinic's administration did not allow members of the special commission access to medical documentation. This became the basis for the decision to revoke the medical license. However, even such a harsh step did not lead to the cessation of the medical institution's activities – the Odrex clinic continued to operate by simply transferring its operations to another legal entity with a valid medical license.

The Ministry of Health found itself in a situation where the sanctions applied by the regulator against a clinic that violated licensing conditions had no real impact on its activities. The clinic, which lost its license, did not stop providing medical services, but merely "reshuffled" legal entities and continued to operate without any hindrance. At the same time, the modern licensing system does not provide for any safeguards that would prevent such practices.

Given this situation, the "Odrex Case" raises a much broader question than the activities of a single clinic. It forces attention to how widespread the practice is when private medical institutions have several licenses issued to different legal entities, which allows them to freely change their "shell" in case of inspections or sanctions.

In such a regulatory model, even the revocation of a license does not mean the actual cessation of the institution's work, but becomes merely a formality that is easily circumvented. Therefore, the key issue remains not only the detection of violations, but also the availability of real mechanisms for the Ministry of Health, as a regulator, to influence clinics against which there are mass patient complaints and ongoing criminal proceedings, but which continue to provide medical services thanks to medical licenses obtained for other legal entities.