Czech health ministry won't fire hospital boss over defibrillators

For over a year, Czech police have been examining records on defibrillator implantations at Olomouc University Hospital (FNOL): they first looked at patients enrolled in the European clinical trial Profid Ehra, then expanded the review to hundreds of routine procedures. Despite preliminary findings of irregularities at the state-run hospital, Health Minister Adam Vojtěch (ANO) has so far not removed the institution's director, Roman Havlík, from his post.

Havlík has run the hospital since 2012, and it was under him that the number of defibrillator implantation procedures rose to record levels. In an interview, Minister Vojtěch said he is waiting for the results of the police investigation and is ready to act only if those involved are “actually charged.”

The minister is waiting for the police to decide

According to Vojtěch, the findings of an expert panel set up by the hospital itself, with a ministry representative taking part, are not yet enough for him. The panel found that in some cases “the indications [for surgery] were not fully met,” but so far only 2024 has been reviewed — the review could be extended to other years as well. “The question is whether we're talking about a mistake by individual doctors or a systemic failure,” the minister said.

Vojtěch stressed that the ministry has no right to request patients' medical records — only the police have that kind of access. According to him, the question of removing the hospital's leadership will only arise if charges are brought against the hospital or specific doctors: in the past, he has dismissed hospital directors only over irregularities in public procurement, not over medical matters.

The investigation is proceeding on two fronts

The investigation is running along two lines: possible data falsification in the Profid Ehra study, and a review of whether hundreds, possibly thousands, of routine implantations were justified. No quick charges are expected — key stages of the review on both fronts have not yet been completed.

The suspected data falsification in Profid Ehra is being overseen by European Prosecutor Pavel Pukovec. According to him, the investigation is being held up by a lack of information from Germany, where the study's sponsor — Berlin's Charité clinic — and the Munich-based research organisation CRI are located. “We still haven't received a response from our German colleagues on the extent of the damage,” Pukovec said.

Charité spokesperson Anne Rödiger said that once the investigation began, the clinic “immediately” handed over all the necessary documents to the authorities. The Olomouc site's participation — one of 80 centres taking part in the study across Europe and Israel — has been discontinued, and the data collected there will not be included in the final results. She said the clinic remains in contact with the German investigative authorities and that the investigation is ongoing.

A colleague managed to transfer to another hospital

Because the problem was not addressed right away, the former head of the cardiology department, Miloš Táborský, managed to move from Olomouc to an equivalent post at the hospital in Ústí nad Labem and continued performing implantations there. Minister Vojtěch noted that his subsequent work in Ústí is also part of what law enforcement is examining.

It is also known that the hospital's long-serving director, Roman Havlík, was aware of the problem at least since February 2025, but did not report it to the police. Asked whether he might have been covering for the doctors who performed the disputed procedures, the minister replied: “I don't know... I can't say whether he was protecting them or not.”

According to the review, an audit of the Profid Ehra study was already carried out at the cardiology department in November–December 2024 by the Munich-based organisation CRI, and no irregularities were found at that time. But as early as 9 February 2025, the department head and deputy clinic director, Martin Hutyra, warned hospital management in writing about possible falsification of medical records, the improper enrolment of patients in the Profid Ehra study, and defibrillator implantations carried out “in breach of the established indication procedure.”

Source: seznamzpravy.cz