How long will the doctor, allegedly dangerous for his patients, be able to continue with his practice? Why had he been given only a verbal reprimand by the Medical Chamber, when in the past he had already been processed for four disputable cases, and for working without a licence? Why was he later issued a new licence, in spite of the warnings, and even prolonged its validity until 2022? What about the responsible actions of the doctors who repaired the consequences of his quack surgeries? And finally – why did the Health Insurance pay for his services, without prior control?

The Medical Chamber will immediately act on suspicion that doctor Zimmerman acted against medical doctrine, Andrej Možina assures that "there is evidence, and suspicions of malpractice or sloppiness, and we will dedicate our complete attention to this case in the following days. I intend to consult lawyers, have a meeting with the doctor – for the safety of patients".

The Minister of Health Milojka Kolar announced her move as well; she will inform the Italian authorities about the case. For now it is not known yet whether any of the patients had filed a motion for criminal accountability of Zimmerman, but it is extremely disturbing that none of the doctors who had repaired his mistakes reported him.

"There were reports from those circles as well, supervisors were chosen... I can't answer to that question at the moment," Možina said.

The consequences of the procedures performed by Zimmerman were repaired also by the current Secretary of State Sandra Tušar: "I had some patients, but I didn't report it, I just spoke with colleagues who treat varicose veins, and that group assured me that an initiative to verify his expert knowledge had already been made."

Besides the questions about shifting of responsibility, the responsible persons for absence of supervision, and payment of the services – as the health insurance fund paid to Zimmerman for the procedures on insured persons from Slovenia almost EUR 400,000 during a year and a half, the question arises why there is no supervision of money-grubbing doctors.

"A patient is entitled to choose his/her surgeon. We don't know what was written on the doctors' notes given to those persons who chose this person, and I don't want to speculate whether those were really emergency procedures," Ministry of Health Milojka Celarc Kolar replies.

The waiting period for varicose vein surgery is among the longest – 490 days.

S. I. (RA SLO), translated by G. K.