Greece opens probe after Giorgos Mazonakis dies following plasmapheresis

Greek authorities have opened a criminal investigation into private anti‑ageing treatments and blood‑exchange procedures after popular singer Giorgos Mazonakis, 54, died following a visit to a clinic in the Kolonaki district of Athens. Two doctors who worked at the clinic have been arrested, and investigators say they found discrepancies in the clinicians' accounts and in the clinic's records.

Mazonakis died on September 9, 2026 after undergoing a plasmapheresis procedure, a treatment in which blood is removed, exchanged or filtered. The case has renewed scrutiny of a lucrative, largely unregulated market for so‑called rejuvenation therapies in Greece, including unproven stem‑cell and plasma treatments often offered in private, discreet practices favoured by celebrities.

Costs quoted by investigators put these treatments in the range of €6,000 to €10,000, while so‑called intravenous hangover remedies were being sold for about €500. Officials also report isolated incidents of unauthorised imports of botox and black‑market sales of testosterone.

What the evidence shows

Police searched the Kolonaki clinic and say they removed four bags labelled as evidence, plus digital devices, medicines and other materials. The two clinic owners were handcuffed and taken to a police station after officers said they discovered information that contradicted the doctors' initial statements.

Investigators say the clinic staff changed parts of their testimony during questioning. A nurse initially told police that Mazonakis arrived at about 16:00 on September 9, but security camera footage at the building entrance shows he arrived at 13:30. A more serious inconsistency concerns the timing of the procedure itself: the clinic claimed the singer's blood pressure fell and that he gradually lost consciousness while a second catheter was being inserted in his left arm, but the plasmapheresis device records show the procedure had already been running for at least 45 minutes before Mazonakis suffered a fatal cardiac arrest.

Inspectors also found two plasmapheresis machines that appear not to have had the proper approvals; records of inspections by the Athens Medical Chamber in 2024 and 2025 show no trace of those devices. An autopsy was carried out on September 11, 2026, and authorities said toxicology and further laboratory analyses are expected to clarify the cause of death. A professor of hematology warned that such clinics enable "some people to get rich in a short period of time." The head of the Greek medicines agency EOF urged citizens "to trust regulatory authorities" and to use only medicines that have received official approval.

Photo: press material from the event