Conflict of interest for a clinic, storm over undersecretary Gemmato

An advertisement for a private clinic in Bari, which has three locations, embarrasses the undersecretary for health, Marcello Gemmato (FdI), who has been overwhelmed by political controversy. It all stems from an online advertisement of 'Therapia srl', in which Gemmato holds 10% of the shares, although he has long since made them available to the other partners. Therapia srl is a small company set up in 2012 by a group of nine partners. Marcello Gemmato, who is a pharmacist by profession, joined in 2013. The private structure's publicity, which is entirely legitimate, pushes the possibility of having diagnostic tests 'without having to wait the long time of the public health system'.

The PD revolts and calls for his resignation: 'We have always said so. The right wing is not dismantling public health care out of sloppiness, but for a precise design. And who stands to gain? Only them, the right wing. The ad of the private clinic, of which the undersecretary Gemmato is a partner, is an insult to those 4.5 million Italians who have already given up treatment precisely because of those waiting lists that the clinic promises to blow up,' attacks the secretary of the PD, Elly Schlein.

The undersecretary is the one to reply: 'A lying and rancorous left that no longer knows what to cling to,' he begins. "The polemics,' he adds, 'are zero: I have 10% of a company without having any responsibility for its management, let alone the content of the website. There is no conflict of interest, as the Competition Authority certifies,' and 'with the Meloni government and Minister Schillaci we are dealing with the problem of waiting lists created by the mismanagement of decades of left-wing government.

The M5s is also calling for his resignation and is filing an urgent question to Minister Schillaci: 'While four and a half million Italians give up treatment every year and several million more are forced into debt to access examinations and examinations, the undersecretary for health enriches himself at their expense,' attacks Marianna Ricciardi, a member of the 5 Star Movement in the Social Affairs Committee. 'It is already embarrassing that an undersecretary at the Ministry of Health has shares in a private clinic. What is more, it is infuriating that that same clinic should advertise denigrating the National Health Service and waiting list times,' writes Sinistra Italiana's Head of Southern Italy Nico Bavaro.

"The left chooses a new target on which to hurl its frustrations and inabilities in the management of public health: Undersecretary Gemmato. As shown by the attestation of the Competition and Market Authority, there is no incompatibility of Gemmato,' replied Tommaso Foti, leader of the Fratelli d'Italia group in the Chamber.