Kazakh Doctor Allegedly Involved In False Diagnosis Dies

Kazakh Health Minister Zhaqsylyq Dosqaliev was suspected of embezzlement, bribe taking, and the illegal sale of real estate.

ASTANA -- A doctor allegedly involved in falsely diagnosing Kazakh Health Minister Zhaqsylyq Dosqaliev as having suffered a stroke has died, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports.

Aygul Zhetimkarynova, head of the emergency section at the national Medical Research Center in Astana, died on October 18.

She was hospitalized earlier this month in the wake of a scandal surrounding Dosqaliev's condition and was one of the physicians suspected of helping Dosqaliev secure the false diagnosis in an effort to escape justice.

According to the official autopsy reports, Zhetimkarynova died of a "massive tumor."

She was buried today in Astana. Her age was not immediately available.

The Kazakh financial police suspect Dosqaliev faked a stroke after they interrogated him on September 27. Dosqaliev, 54, was hospitalized and later transferred to a pretrial detention center in Astana.

He was sacked by President Nursultan Nazarbaev on October 8.

Financial police investigative department director Nurlan Auganbaev told journalists on October 4 that several doctors involved in the case alleging a false diagnosis had been charged with "using their professional position to obstruct the course of justice."

On October 5, financial police spokesman Murat Zhumanbai told journalists that the doctors who treated Dosqaliev had confessed that they falsely diagnosed a stroke at Dosqaliev's request.

Zhumanbai told journalists that Dosqaliev was suspected of embezzlement, bribe taking, and the illegal sale of real estate.