Once again, the Albanian public health system reveals its rotting core. In a shocking exposé by “Fiks Fare,” a disturbing case of bribery and malpractice emerges from the Regional Hospital of Fier. Dr. Musa Skënderaj, a man entrusted with saving lives, has been accused of accepting bribes totaling 60,000 ALL from the desperate parents of a young boy—while delivering failed medical care that now puts the child at risk of losing a testicle.
According to the report, Dr. Skënderaj took 40,000 ALL from the family after a surgical intervention on their son. The operation, however, was botched. The child now requires a second surgery due to testicular torsion—a painful and dangerous condition that, if not properly treated, can lead to permanent damage or loss of the organ. And yet, despite the previous failure, the family claims the doctor asked to be paid again.
“Not only does he have to be operated on again,” the boy’s mother told “Fiks Fare,” “but we have to pay again.”
This isn’t hearsay. The father of the child confronted the doctor directly and recorded the conversation with a hidden camera. Skënderaj denied demanding money before the surgery but did not deny accepting it afterward—a transparent attempt to dodge responsibility. The footage shows the father handing the doctor 20,000 ALL for the upcoming second operation. The doctor took the cash without hesitation, stuffing it in his pocket and offering weak excuses about the difficulties of the first surgery.
Even worse, Skënderaj tried to justify the payments, claiming they were compensation for “online services”—phone calls with the parents, as if casual communication somehow equates to 60,000 ALL in value. This laughable defense is a slap in the face to every Albanian who relies on public healthcare.
Is this the level of professionalism the people of Albania are forced to accept? When a child's health is endangered and a family’s savings are exploited, something is deeply wrong. Instead of accountability, we get silence. Instead of action, we get excuses. And worst of all, instead of healing, we get harm.
This case is not an isolated one. It is yet another symptom of a diseased system where corruption thrives, and vulnerable patients pay the price. When doctors become businessmen and hospitals turn into marketplaces, the health of a nation suffers.
Will anyone be held accountable? Or will this just fade like so many other scandals before it?