{"title":"The \"Newborn Gang\" Scandal in Türkiye: Ethics in a Neoliberal Health System.","authors":"Maide Barış, Gürkan Sert, M İnanç Özekmekçi","doi":"10.1007/s10728-025-00522-5","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In October 2024, Türkiye was shocked by the \"Newborn Gang\" scandal, in which a network of healthcare professionals allegedly exploited newborns for financial gain in private hospitals. The accused are charged with intentionally neglecting, mistreating or even killing of healthy infants in neonatal intensive care units to prolong their stays and maximize government reimbursements. This paper critically examines the structural and ethical failures exposed by the 2024 \"Newborn Gang\" scandal in Türkiye, in which healthcare professionals in private hospitals allegedly allowed or caused the deaths of newborns to profit from the state's healthcare reimbursement system. Drawing on the frameworks of neoliberal critique and medical humanities, the study argues that such extreme violations are not isolated incidents of individual misconduct, but manifestations of deeper systemic vulnerabilities fostered by the neoliberalization of healthcare. It explores how deregulation, market incentives, and the erosion of ethical values-exacerbated by Türkiye's Health Transformation Program-have created an environment where financial gain is prioritized over patient welfare. Comparative case studies are employed to contextualize these findings within broader global patterns of ethical collapse in healthcare systems influenced by market logic. The paper contends that merely strengthening oversight is insufficient; rather, a structural reorientation is needed. As a potential alternative, the study introduces Value-Based Healthcare as a model that aligns clinical outcomes with ethical imperatives. Ultimately, the paper calls for a fundamental moral recalibration of healthcare-one that affirms care, integrity, and justice as core values over profit and efficiency.</p>","PeriodicalId":46740,"journal":{"name":"Health Care Analysis","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8000,"publicationDate":"2025-05-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Health Care Analysis","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10728-025-00522-5","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ETHICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
In October 2024, Türkiye was shocked by the "Newborn Gang" scandal, in which a network of healthcare professionals allegedly exploited newborns for financial gain in private hospitals. The accused are charged with intentionally neglecting, mistreating or even killing of healthy infants in neonatal intensive care units to prolong their stays and maximize government reimbursements. This paper critically examines the structural and ethical failures exposed by the 2024 "Newborn Gang" scandal in Türkiye, in which healthcare professionals in private hospitals allegedly allowed or caused the deaths of newborns to profit from the state's healthcare reimbursement system. Drawing on the frameworks of neoliberal critique and medical humanities, the study argues that such extreme violations are not isolated incidents of individual misconduct, but manifestations of deeper systemic vulnerabilities fostered by the neoliberalization of healthcare. It explores how deregulation, market incentives, and the erosion of ethical values-exacerbated by Türkiye's Health Transformation Program-have created an environment where financial gain is prioritized over patient welfare. Comparative case studies are employed to contextualize these findings within broader global patterns of ethical collapse in healthcare systems influenced by market logic. The paper contends that merely strengthening oversight is insufficient; rather, a structural reorientation is needed. As a potential alternative, the study introduces Value-Based Healthcare as a model that aligns clinical outcomes with ethical imperatives. Ultimately, the paper calls for a fundamental moral recalibration of healthcare-one that affirms care, integrity, and justice as core values over profit and efficiency.
期刊介绍：
Health Care Analysis is a journal that promotes dialogue and debate about conceptual and normative issues related to health and health care, including health systems, healthcare provision, health law, public policy and health, professional health practice, health services organization and decision-making, and health-related education at all levels of clinical medicine, public health and global health. Health Care Analysis seeks to support the conversation between philosophy and policy, in particular illustrating the importance of conceptual and normative analysis to health policy, practice and research. As such, papers accepted for publication are likely to analyse philosophical questions related to health, health care or health policy that focus on one or more of the following: aims or ends, theories, frameworks, concepts, principles, values or ideology. All styles of theoretical analysis are welcome providing that they illuminate conceptual or normative issues and encourage debate between those interested in health, philosophy and policy. Papers must be rigorous, but should strive for accessibility – with care being taken to ensure that their arguments and implications are plain to a broad academic and international audience. In addition to purely theoretical papers, papers grounded in empirical research or case-studies are very welcome so long as they explore the conceptual or normative implications of such work. Authors are encouraged, where possible, to have regard to the social contexts of the issues they are discussing, and all authors should ensure that they indicate the ‘real world’ implications of their work. Health Care Analysis publishes contributions from philosophers, lawyers, social scientists, healthcare educators, healthcare professionals and administrators, and other health-related academics and policy analysts.
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