‘We know that’s what finished him off’. A Russian CT scan room infected cancer patients with hepatitis. At least four died, but no one has been prosecuted.

Meduza.io

In January 2025, Russia’s Investigative Committee launched a criminal negligence case after patients at a cancer clinic in the country’s Far Eastern Kamchatka region were infected with viral hepatitis. The disease was detected in 50 people who underwent contrast-enhanced CT scans at the Kamchatka Regional Oncology Clinic between 2023 and 2024; media reports say at least four of them have died. The head of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykhin, is personally overseeing the case. Still, families of the deceased and other victims say they’ve received no updates in over six months. The independent outlet Veter spoke to several people who were affected. Meduza shares a translation of Veter’s report.

The CT room shutdown

In late December 2024, a court in Russia’s Kamchatka region ordered a 30-day closure of the CT scan room at the Kamchatka Regional Oncology Clinic. According to the court’s ruling, Russia’s consumer and public health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, had received a complaint about patients at the clinic being infected with hepatitis B and C — and a subsequent inspection found health code violations in the CT room. The court suspended its operations on the grounds that it posed a threat to human life and health.

According to Rospotrebnadzor, the outbreak likely stemmed from patients themselves, with transmission possibly occurring through multi-dose saline vials used to check the patency of intravenous catheters used to administer contrast agents before CT scans. The same vials have previously been linked to hepatitis outbreaks in the United States. Other possible factors listed by the agency included poor hand hygiene among staff and the reuse of single-use injection equipment.

The story gained national attention in mid-January 2025, when Kamchatka’s Investigative Committee announced a criminal case against unidentified employees under charges of negligence. Kamchatka Health Minister Alexander Gashkov confirmed that 50 people who had undergone contrast CT scans at the clinic in the past two years had been diagnosed with hepatitis B or C. He said about a third had already “completed treatment” or “recovered on their own.”

Kamchatka Regional Oncology Clinic

The authorities have not reported any additional cases, but a source told M-Media that 23 additional patients had been infected. Rospotrebnadzor reported that more than 9,000 patients received contrast-enhanced CT scans at the clinic in 2023–2024, suggesting the true number of infections may be significantly higher. Authorities have not confirmed any deaths, but media outlets have reported at least four.

At least four deaths

Hepatitis B and C are blood-borne viruses that attack the liver and can severely complicate cancer treatment. A hepatitis diagnosis typically forces doctors to pause cancer therapy, which gives malignant cells a chance to spread.

One of the patients who developed hepatitis after visiting the Kamchatka clinic was Sergey, a Kamchatka rescue worker diagnosed with lymphoma in 2023, according to his daughter. He began treatment in Moscow, where he received several rounds of chemotherapy, and later returned to Kamchatka. After undergoing a CT scan at the regional oncology clinic, Sergey was diagnosed with viral hepatitis in March 2025. His cancer treatment was put on hold so the hepatitis could be treated first. Although he later received another round of chemotherapy, doctors declared it ineffective by late April, and he died shortly afterward. The clinic denied any connection between his infection and the CT scan.

Another case was that of Yevgeny, a Kamchatka resident diagnosed with stomach cancer in 2022. His niece told Veter that he remained active and continued working during his treatment. In August 2024, however, he was hospitalized with hepatitis. His chemotherapy, which had been progressing well, was suspended, and the cancer metastasized. “Hepatitis wasn’t listed on his death certificate,” she said. “But we know that’s what finished him off. Without it, he would have lived. He could have had another two or three good years.”

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Yevgeny’s widow has been recognized as a victim in the criminal case, but she says no one has contacted her in months.

Earlier cases have also been reported. In April, Irina Subbotina died five months after receiving a CT scan at the clinic. She had cancer, epilepsy, and hepatitis C. “The [hepatitis] made everything worse and ultimately took her from us,” her relatives said.

In February, Hayot Khalilov, a Kamchatka resident originally from Uzbekistan, died after receiving treatment at the clinic. His family believes that he, too, contracted hepatitis there. As a result, both his chemotherapy and radiation treatments were discontinued, and the surgery he had scheduled was canceled.

‘Everyone responsible will be held accountable’

A former employee of Kamchatka’s regional cancer clinic told Sibir.Realii that the hepatitis outbreak may have been caused by “shortages and greed at the top.” She said that after the pandemic, funding was slashed, and the clinic began cutting corners: contrast agents were administered manually, and single-use catheters were reused. She also described dangerously high patient loads that made proper sanitation impossible. “They’d book up to 30 people for a six-hour shift! The nurse doesn’t even have time to sanitize her hands, let alone change gloves. The clinic gets paid for every service covered by the national insurance program, and the directors get bonuses.”

Rospotrebnadzor also cited a shortage of medical supplies — including single-use items — in the CT room. But the clinic’s chief physician, Natalia Ziganshina, attributed the outbreak to “human error.” “All our supplies are single-use. Regulators thoroughly checked their availability, expiration dates, and storage conditions. Our equipment has been working reliably for years. But it’s impossible to monitor every move staff make around the clock,” she told the outlet Kamchatka Today in January. At the time, Ziganshina said the CT room would be disinfected and equipped with surveillance cameras before reopening.

Patients infected at the clinic — along with their families, who were also put at risk — say they’ve been left to manage the consequences on their own and that no one has been held accountable. Regional Health Minister Alexander Gashkov has since resigned and taken a new job as head of the Russia Sanatorium in Essentuki. Natalia Ziganshina remains in her post and is now trying to restore trust in the clinic. Kamchatka Governor Vladimir Solodov has promised that “everyone responsible will be punished.”

A similar outbreak occurred at the Amur Regional Children’s Clinical Hospital in 2019, where more than 100 children were infected with hepatitis C. Rospotrebnadzor found a direct link between the infections and medical care at the facility. According to the outlet Vademecum, parents of about 10 of the children later won compensation ranging from 400,000 to 800,000 rubles ($5,000–$10,000).