The Croatian Medical Chamber (HLK) established two months ago that a KBC Zagreb hospital's team made an omission in two kidney transplantations, Jutarnji List daily said on Friday, adding that no action has been taken.

Despite a conclusion that ethical and professional standards had been breached, the relevant commission did not instigate proceedings at the Court of Honour, the paper said.

The hospital’s kidney transplantation team and doctors at its Institute of Nephrology, Arterial Hypertension, Dialysis and Kidney Transplantation violated the code of medical ethics and deontology, the HLK commission for medical ethics and deontology said in the conclusion adopted in April.

The conclusion concerns two kidney transplantations in which living unrelated donors, Serbian and Kosovo nationals, donated kidneys to two Croatian nationals. The procedures were performed at KBC Zagreb in 2019 after professionals at the Merkur hospital refused to do so due to suspicious circumstances.

Although a psychiatric evaluation done at KBC Zagreb established that one donor was donating a kidney because the recipient had helped him financially, the procedure was nonetheless performed. The hospital has not commented but, off the record, has cited the donors’ statements, verified by a public notary, to the effect that they had no material gain from the recipients.

The HLK commission’s conclusion is also based on the findings of a Health Ministry inspection. Doctors told Jutarnji off the record that the commission did not forward the case to the Court of Honour.

According to the HLK, in cases where the nature of an act warrants taking disciplinary action, its commission and all other authorised parties can request that disciplinary action be taken.