Poland's health minister has been dismissed, the prime minister said on Tuesday (August 8), after he provoked outrage by revealing details of a prescription a doctor who appeared in a TV news report critical of the health ministry had written for himself.
The episode has been problematic for ruling nationalists Law and Justice (PiS) as they prepare for elections scheduled for October 15, and the dismissal of Adam Niedzielski, a former head of Poland's National Health Fund (NFZ), had been widely expected.
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced Niedzielski's departure at a press conference on Tuesday. "This morning when I spoke with Mr Adam Niedzielski I decided to accept his resignation as minister."
"This is the election campaign period, and the election campaign period is a specific time when we must be particularly sensitive to any mistakes," Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told a news conference.
Niedzielski had angered doctors and reportedly many in his own party with the revelation about a doctor who had appeared in a TV news report flagging problems issuing prescriptions for certain painkillers after changes made by the health ministry.
Following the incident, Poland's Supreme Medical Chamber told the prime minister that doctors had lost confidence in Niedzielski and also informed prosecutors that he may have committed a crime.
Niedzielski will be replaced by Katarzyna Sójka, a PiS lawmaker and doctor.
Morawiecki said Sójka "knows health care inside out" and "her experience, empathy and attitude towards these issues will allow to continue all that is important, everything that works best".
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, TVN24, PAP, Reuters