Babil police arrest medical brokers in Hilla health-sector crackdown

BABYLON, Iraq — Police in Iraq's Babil province have detained several suspects accused of acting as medical brokers in the provincial capital Hilla, according to a statement from the Babil Provincial Police Command. The operation, ordered by police commander Maj. Gen. Abbas Hassan Nasir al-Husseini, was carried out by the Organized Crime Directorate in coordination with the Babil Health Inspection Department. Investigators said the suspects allegedly redirected patients to specific doctors in exchange for commissions, using identification cards belonging to some physicians to pressure or mislead clients. A broader inspection campaign on Doctors' Street in central Hilla covered unlicensed nursing and cosmetic clinics, a dental practice, laboratories and pharmacies. Unlicensed facilities were shut down and legal proceedings were opened against their operators, the command said. Police added that monitoring of those exploiting the health sector would continue and that legal measures would be applied firmly.