Oncology Clinic Case: Auditors Say Vasev had Final Say on Therapy

While the CATO system was locked for years at the Oncology Clinic, then-Director Nino Vasev had final say on which patient would be given the expensive biological therapy because oncologists had to get approval exclusively signed by him, according to auditors from the State Audit Office.

As they pointed out on Tuesday, when the procedure is such, there is room for subjective decision-making because there was no concrete protocol about who needs to be given the therapy and at which stage of the diseases.

“The therapy would be prescribed by doctors on the basis of approval from the Medical Director. That leaves room for subjective decision-making about which patient will be connected and how big the doses will be. Medicines would be prescribed without taking into account whether the Clinic has sufficient quantities to cover the needs of all patients that were prescribed therapy,” Sonja Kambovska, Assistant to the Auditor-General, explained.