For Ourania Moraiti, Greece’s renewed scrutiny of questionable medical practices is a painful reminder of a tragedy that began in 2017. Her daughter, Giannoula, died at 35 after abandoning conventional cancer treatment and placing her trust in the man known as “Dr. Kontos,” who presented himself as a physician despite having no medical degree.
Moraiti is due to return to the mixed jury-jurist court of appeal in Athens on Nov. 13, where she will again face Kontos, who was sentenced in 2022 to eight life terms, 50 years in prison — of which 20 are to be served — and a fine of 327,000 euros. He was convicted of seven murders, six attempted murders and repeated fraud against 28 patients and relatives.
“He convinced us that he was our only hope,” Moraiti recalled.
Kontos allegedly persuaded her daughter to stop chemotherapy, promising supposedly pioneering treatments and charging the family up to 60,000 euros. His prescriptions included herbal concoctions, expensive artemisinin injections and even water from the United States allegedly containing traces of platinum and gold.
After four months on the treatment and a severe diet, Giannoula weighed just 32 kilograms. She died of cardiac arrest caused by organ failure on July 11, 2017.
Moraiti says the case remains relevant because similar exploitation can emerge whenever illness, fear and the promise of a cure intersect. “They play with people’s souls,” she said.
Another case due before the courts involves a 66-year-old man accused of posing as a neurologist and offering costly stem-cell treatments to patients with multiple sclerosis. Police said he extracted 215,000 euros from three patients between 2006 and 2014, promising complete cures or dramatic improvements that never materialized.
The cases have acquired new resonance following the death of Greek pop star Giorgos Mazonakis, whose collapse and subsequent death at a private medical facility in the upscale Kolonaki district of central Athens has prompted a broader examination of Greece’s rapidly expanding wellness, longevity and “rejuvenation” market.
Mazonakis had gone to the facility for plasmapheresis, an established medical procedure used for certain serious conditions but increasingly marketed in some settings as part of anti-aging or wellness programs. The investigation has raised questions about the clinic’s licensing, the circumstances surrounding the procedure and whether existing safeguards are adequate.
The case has also focused attention on treatments marketed as “rejuvenation,” “blood cleansing” and regenerative medicine, with medical experts warning that patients should demand scientific evidence and appropriate regulatory approval.
For families such as Moraiti’s, however, the debate is not about wellness trends. It is about what happens when hope becomes a commodity — and when the promise of another chance comes at the expense of proven medical treatment.
