A group of mothers together with their children protested outside the Ministry of Health building against what they say is a common practice in the Moldovan health care system of falsifying diagnoses and overusing antibiotic treatment. The protesters submitted a petition with 4,000 signatures.

Alicia Valcov, a co-founder of the “Ask a Mom” community, told reporters that child patients in Moldovan hospitals are often given diagnoses and antibiotic treatment without prior adequate testing, resulting in proliferation of antibiotic resistance.

The mothers say they are upset about the results of a recent probe ordered by the Ministry of Health recently, after Dr. Mihai Stratulat, a popular pediatrician running a private clinic outside the system, denounced the alleged practice. They demand that the results of the official probe, which didn’t find any wrongdoing and accused Stratulat of ethical misconduct, be published in detail.

The mothers also complain that when they get their children to a hospital, doctors often fail to explain them the diagnoses and the administered treatment. “Parents are emotionally abused and harassed. They are often cried at, and when they gather up their courage to ask ‘what are you giving to my child?’ they are told ‘it’s none of your business. We are the doctors here’”, says Alicia Valcov.

Diana Sopivnic, a member of the group, says she went through a false diagnosis problem herself when her child was born. The following day after birth, her baby was diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia and given antibiotics. After she saw another doctor, the diagnosis wasn’t confirmed.

The mothers say they want the authorities to encourage a shift in doctors’ attitudes towards child patients and their parents.