Over the weekend, the Director General of the Ministry of Health, Roni Gamzo, announced his resignation. This after serving in the position for about four years.
His resignation came against the backdrop of the struggle for cannabis patients and the war against the monopoly of the 'Sharel' company, with it officially defined as a resignation "due to professional differences of opinion."
The person who sees himself as 'responsible' for this resignation is actually MK Moshe Feiglin (Likud), who several weeks ago called on Health Minister Yael German to fire the director general of her ministry.
In the letter, which was unusually harsh, Feiglin wrote that "the picture that emerges from the conduct of the CEO of your office is a harsh picture of improper conduct, a picture of someone who is not afraid of using deceit and deceit to achieve his goals, even in front of public representatives in the Israeli Knesset. It seems that the welfare of patients and the health system is not first in the order of importance for Prof. Gamzo."
Feiglin said in his letter that Gamzo lied to the Knesset Labor, Welfare and Health Committee and resulted in a week's postponement of the discussion on the exemption from the tender granted to the private company 'Sarel', while in the same week the company won another exemption from a tender for NIS 1.6 billion.
"Instead of following up on the granting of the exemption, the matter of which was to be discussed by the legislature, Prof. Gamzo fraudulently brought about the postponement of the discussion and the granting of another exemption behind the back of the Knesset." Feiglin wrote in his letter, adding: "This conduct is just an example of the scandalous conduct of the "Sarel" company as I exposed in the Labor and Welfare Committee hearings."
Feiglin also noted in his letter that three months have passed since the Health Ministry's decision-making proposal was received, which was supposed to regulate the issue of the use of medical cannabis for patients and ease their condition - but nothing has changed. "We see with our eyes wide open how the CEO of your ministry is leading a campaign designed to prevent patients from receiving medical cannabis. All of this is in complete contradiction to your declaration from every platform that every patient will receive what they deserve. Since the decision-making proposal was received, pain clinics have announced that they will stop giving cannabis prescriptions, including to patients suffering from phantom pain after limb amputations, patients suffering from spinal problems, and more. In fact, most patients who currently receive medical cannabis for reasons of chronic pain are prevented from receiving new prescriptions."
Feiglin accused Gamzo of "intimidating" doctors who prescribe cannabis as a treatment for their patients.
After the news of Gamzo's resignation was published, Feiglin posted the following on his Facebook page: "About two weeks ago, I sent a letter to the Minister of Health demanding that the Director General of her office, Mr. Roni Gamzo, be dismissed. Dr. Gamzo did well when he announced his retirement from the position today, and I congratulate him on this and wish him success in his future endeavors. I call on the Minister of Health to choose a new Director General who is not from within the existing system, a person who will see the welfare of patients as the top priority of his considerations, and who will be able to cure the health system of its ailments."
Gamzo took office during MK Yaakov Litzman's tenure as Minister of Health. In his resignation letter, Gamzo noted that he "owes supreme gratitude to Rabbi Litzman" for appointing him to the position, "for his trust, support, and public wisdom from which I learned so much. There is no doubt that he made the change in the ministry with his energetic spirit." And anyone who wanted to see in these words a hint that the director general did not see eye to eye with the current minister did so at his own personal risk.
Litzman, for his part, expressed regret over Gamzo's departure from the health system. "This is a difficult period for the health system and stability and professionalism in leadership are required," he noted.
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