The Ministry of Health must inspect Medical House "Odrex" LLC - the legal entity of the Odrex clinic, which is involved in criminal cases of fraud

The Ministry of Health of Ukraine must conduct an inspection of another legal entity associated with the scandalous Odesa clinic Odrex. This refers to LLC "Medical House "Odrex" - one of the legal entities of the clinic, which is involved in several criminal proceedings opened under articles related to possible fraudulent actions. Why the inspection is necessary right now and what it can reveal, read in the UNN material.

The Ministry of Health of Ukraine is preparing for an unscheduled inspection of compliance with the licensing conditions for medical practice by LLC "Medical House "Odrex". The editorial office of UNN knows that the reason for this was an appeal to the regulator by the Odesa Prosecutor's Office. After all, law enforcement officers on the ground are currently investigating at least six criminal proceedings. Opened based on statements from relatives of deceased patients and people who consider themselves victims of treatment at the Odrex clinic. These cases involve the possible misappropriation of patients' funds, the imposition of medical procedures, and deception regarding the real state of health and prognosis of treatment results.

In particular, some criminal proceedings have been initiated under Article 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (fraud) – in various qualifications. This includes both Part 1 of this article (appropriation of another's property by deception), and Parts 3 and 4, which concern fraud committed under martial law, on a large or especially large scale, by an organized group of persons. It is under these articles that law enforcement officers are investigating the circumstances of the possible misappropriation of significant sums of money from patients and their families during treatment at Odrex.

Separate proceedings, according to UNN, concern situations in which patients' relatives were allegedly misled about the real state of health and prognosis for recovery. The investigation is checking the version according to which people were told about "chances for salvation," persuaded of the need to continue expensive treatment, including intensive therapy, dialysis, artificial lung ventilation, and other procedures, despite existing medical conclusions about the futility of such treatment. According to the applicants, bills for staying in the clinic in some cases reached hundreds of thousands and even millions of hryvnias.

Another inspection of the Odrex clinic

This is not the first inspection initiated by the Ministry of Health regarding structures associated with the Odesa clinic Odrex. As UNN previously wrote, several legal entities stand behind the brand of the private medical institution, some of which have or had medical licenses. One of them – LLC "Medical House" – the Ministry of Health has already deprived of the right to conduct medical activities from January 1, 2026. The reason for the revocation of the license was the administration's refusal to provide medical documentation to the members of the licensing commission.

However, even after losing this license, the Odrex clinic did not cease operations. Medical services are still provided through another legal entity, LLC "Medical Center". In addition, the clinic's owners registered a new company, LLC "MDO Pivden", which could potentially obtain a license for medical practice from the regulator. But in response to a journalistic inquiry from UNN news agency, the Ministry of Health reported that no documents for obtaining a medical license for LLC "MDO Pivden" have been received yet.

Why did a scandal erupt around the private Odesa clinic Odrex?

The impetus for a large-scale investigation and public attention was the death of Odesa businessman Adnan Kivan, who had been undergoing treatment at the clinic for several months. According to the Office of the Prosecutor General, two doctors were notified of suspicion of improper performance of professional duties, which led to the patient's death. The investigation believes that the doctors made significant mistakes, including not prescribing the necessary antibacterial therapy and ignoring signs of sepsis development in the patient. Both doctors are under night house arrest and are obliged to wear electronic bracelets.

After the information about Adnan Kivan's death became a subject of public discussion, other patients and families of the deceased also dared to publicly share their own treatment experiences. It was the publicity of this case that lifted the "veil of silence" from the Odrex clinic. People began to talk about their experiences and tell their own tragic stories without fear of possible retaliation.

A small part of these stories is collected in the documentary film "Wasp's Nest". In it, relatives of patients who died after treatment at Odrex, as well as those who managed to survive, publicly tell about their experience in the clinic for the first time. These are different people, with different diagnoses and periods of treatment, but there is much in common in their stories.

All the characters in the film talk about similar circumstances of treatment in the clinic: first, convincing promises that the situation is under control and there is a way out, then a rapid deterioration of the patient's health, the appearance of new complications and the need for an increasing number of procedures. In parallel with this, the costs of treatment increased, and relatives found themselves facing a difficult choice, often without full information about the real state of affairs. For some, these stories ended with severe health consequences, for others – with the death of loved ones.

Systemic risks and the role of the regulator

Therefore, the inspection of LLC "Medical House "Odrex" is not a formality, but a necessary step to assess systemic risks in the clinic's activities. At the same time, the question is increasingly being raised in society: why, despite the resonance, numerous criminal proceedings, and annulled licenses, does the medical institution continue to operate?

This may be facilitated by a possible conflict of interest in the relationship between Odrex and the Ministry of Health. As journalists previously reported, the clinic's general director, Tigran Harutyunyan, was a member of the Ministry of Health's working group on the development of private medicine, which was headed by Minister Viktor Liashko. Formally, such participation is not a violation. However, in a situation where a clinic associated with a member of this group is involved in numerous criminal proceedings, loses licenses, and at the same time continues its activities through other legal entities, the question of the impartiality of the regulator's decisions becomes particularly acute.

The so-called "Odrex Case" has long gone beyond a single episode or a separate criminal proceeding. Today, this concept actually covers all patient complaints, criminal investigations involving legal entities associated with the Odrex clinic, as well as inspections and decisions of the regulator in the field of private medicine. In this sense, the "Odrex Case" has become a test for the entire system of state control in the field of healthcare.

Whether the Ministry of Health of Ukraine will be able to conduct an independent, principled inspection and give an objective assessment of the activities of the Odesa private clinic Odrex – time will tell. The answer to this question will be important not only for one private clinic but also for the level of patient trust in state institutions in general.