The prosecution with a new accusation against Professor Serbezova for causing panic

The president of the Bulgarian Pharmaceutical Union, Professor Asena Serbezova, received a new accusation from the prosecution on October 28 for causing panic with her two interviews in April, in which she spoke about the risks of shortages and shortages of some medicines in the Covid-19 pandemic.

His first accusation was filed on April 10, a few days after giving two interviews to BNT and BNR, in which he discussed logistical problems with the supply of drugs and the risk of drug shortages, concerns shared at the time by several international and European regulatory institutions. bodies and media.

The prosecution insisted on imposing a fine on Serbezova, but on September 14 a panel of the Sofia District Court dismissed the case after concluding that the accusation against the professional leader of the pharmacists was not clear and that the pre-trial proceedings violated his right to defense.

The prosecution has now clarified the charge., specifying the quotes from the interviews, with which it is presumed that Serbezova caused the panic, as well as the temporal range of the crime committed. In addition, it is said that the fact is in the conditions of a continuing crime, that is. Serbezova is charged with a crime in both interviews, not two. Again they threaten her with a fine if she is found guilty.

Despite the indisputable facts about the shortage of medicines in Bulgaria, which was confirmed by the relevant institutions and proven by many patients and their families and the return of the case by the court, the prosecution still decided to raise the same accusation, which specifies the time range of the “crime”. At a time when flu vaccines, some antibiotics, vitamins and immunostimulants are hard to come by, there is a new burden of spreading “red flags.”, that is, the prosecution affirms that “there are no loopholes”, commented on Friday by the Pharmaceutical Union.

The Pharmaceutical Union referred to several European institutions that repression of the right to free expression of expert opinion was being exercised and received their support. Meanwhile The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg has registered Serbezova’s appeal for human rights violated in connection with the charges against you.

After Serbezova was indicted in April, official institutions with a series of actions in practice confirmed that the danger of drug shortages is real and, for some products, a fact.

The Minister of Health issued an order prohibiting the export of certain medicines, and it was preceded by two letters from the Executive Agency for Medicines (BDA) to the Minister of Health, which showed that there is a risk of shortages of certain medicines due to production problems, suspension of imports in our country, increased demand or parallel exports. Even the Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office commissioned the BDA to investigate the absence of one of the insulin products in the pharmacy network, which is why the BDA recommended banning exports of these products from the Bulgarian market and an order from the Ministry of Health that effectively prohibited their exports.