A 56-year-old doctor under investigation over the death of Greek singer Giorgos Mazonakis felt seriously unwell on Tuesday, immediately after finishing a marathon session of testimony before Greece's 32nd investigating magistrate, according to reports.
Her husband, also a doctor, was testifying to the same magistrate over the same case at the same time. He temporarily broke off his own questioning and rushed to her side once he learned she had fallen ill.
An ambulance was called into the courthouse a short time later so paramedics could give her first aid on the spot.
According to reports, the doctor was in a particularly poor psychological state after the lengthy proceedings, and is said to have initially refused further medical help from the ambulance crew.
The case against the two doctors
Mazonakis is a well-known Greek singer. The doctor and her husband are the two defendants under investigation over his death, and were called before the magistrate to answer a charge of homicide committed with possible intent, meaning prosecutors allege they foresaw a fatal outcome was possible and accepted the risk anyway.
The case centres on Mazonakis's death following what is reported to have been a plasmapheresis procedure carried out by the two doctors. Plasmapheresis is a medical procedure in which plasma is separated from the blood and filtered or replaced, typically to treat certain blood or autoimmune conditions.
The doctor's own testimony alone lasted eight hours. She told the magistrate that everything had been carried out legally, according to earlier reporting. The hearing then continued with her husband's testimony on the same charge, which he denies. In total, the couple's combined testimony ran to 17 hours.
Doctors sent to Korydallos Prison
The two doctors were subsequently remanded in custody and taken to Korydallos Prison, where they are being held in a special area, having entered the prison shortly before 7am, according to later reports.
The court's reasoning for ordering pre-trial detention reportedly took into account the way the two defendants practised medicine, along with what happened during the plasmapheresis procedure at the centre of the case.
Greece's anti-money laundering authority has since opened an investigation into the couple, under which all of their financial records will reportedly be examined.
Lawyers for the two doctors are reported to be preparing an appeal against the pre-trial detention order, arguing that their clients' procedural rights had been grossly violated.
Medical association and ambulance service respond
The Athens Medical Association said it had not granted any licence for the plasmapheresis machines involved in the case, and described separate claims that it had done so as unfounded. It said it would give the judicial authorities every possible assistance.
EKAB, Greece's National Centre for Emergency Care, said its response to the original Mazonakis incident had been immediate, with the first crews reaching the scene within five minutes.
