Greek Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis told parliament doctor Ioanna Gaka was a fraud who illegally used an unlicensed plasmapheresis machine before singer Giorgos Mazonakis died.
Speaking in the plenary session of the Hellenic Parliament, Georgiadis accused the remanded medical doctor of knowingly violating Greek law at her clinic in the Kolonaki area of Athens. He stated that a series of regulatory checks had been conducted at the location, but Gaka had repeatedly concealed the medical equipment and deleted client appointments to evade inspection officers.
Adonis Georgiadis serves as the Minister of Health of Greece. Giorgos Mazonakis is a prominent Greek singer, while Kolonaki is an affluent district in central Athens known for its high-end medical practices and commercial establishments. Plasmapheresis is a medical procedure in which blood plasma is separated from whole blood cells for therapeutic purposes.
Athens Medical Association Inspections
Presenting the operating history of the clinic to lawmakers, Georgiadis detailed a long record of official oversight by the Athens Medical Association. He stated that the clinic received its initial operating license on December 12, 2004.
Following the initial licensing, inspectors from the regulatory body performed multiple on-site audits at the premises. Georgiadis listed the specific inspection dates as June 28, 2013, October 3, 2018, January 17, 2024, July 25, 2025, September 9, 2025, September 17, 2025, and September 25, 2025.
The Athens Medical Association is the statutory professional body responsible for licensing, regulating, and supervising medical practitioners and private clinical practices in the Greek capital region.
Unlicensed Machine Notification
Georgiadis identified July 23, 2026, as the crucial date in the investigation. On that day, Gaka submitted an official notification regarding a medical machine she had imported into Greece.
The health minister explained that the association informed Gaka that the device required mandatory inspection because the purchase invoice she submitted did not match her official declaration. Gaka had registered the equipment as an auxiliary machine for ozone therapy, an alternative medical treatment involving the administration of ozone gas.
The regulatory inspection of the device was scheduled to take place during the second fortnight of September 2026. However, the fatal incident involving Mazonakis occurred at the clinic before inspectors could evaluate the equipment.
Georgiadis told parliament that under national regulations, a healthcare provider cannot operate a newly notified machine until receiving final operational approval from the medical association. He stressed that Gaka was legally required to await official authorization but proceeded to use the machine without permission.
Digital Inspection Platform and Oversight Reform
The health minister made the remarks while responding to a parliamentary question submitted by Tasos Oikonomopoulos, a Member of Parliament representing the conservative NIKI party.
Addressing parliamentary concerns, Georgiadis announced that a new digital inspection platform is being deployed to detect regulatory infractions that might escape physical on-site checks. He also dismissed claims that the Corps of Health Inspectors had been abolished, clarifying that the unit was integrated into the National Transparency Authority.
NIKI is a conservative political party represented in the Hellenic Parliament. The National Transparency Authority is an independent public body in Greece tasked with anti corruption efforts, administrative auditing, and institutional oversight.
Georgiadis argued that placing health inspectors under an independent constitutional authority makes their operations more functional and guarantees impartial oversight. He added that even under the former health inspection agency, dishonest practitioners had managed to operate without detection.
