The criminal case against officials from the Novosibirsk Region Ministry of Health, initiated due to the failure to provide a foreign drug to Tatyana Drozdova as mandated by a court decision, has been closed. The case was opened last year under Article 315 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, concerning the non-execution of a court order.

Tatyana Drozdova, a 23-year-old resident of Siberia, suffered from ADA-SCID, a severe combined immunodeficiency, and required a specific foreign medication costing 50 million rubles per month. Despite a court ruling ordering the Ministry of Health to provide the drug, she never received it.

Alexander Bastrykin ordered the opening of the criminal case in 2024 following an appeal from Drozdova’s mother. The Investigative Committee emphasized that the family lacked the financial resources to purchase the expensive medication and that the prolonged absence of treatment could have detrimental health consequences.

Drozdova passed away in a Novosibirsk medical institution on June 4. Currently, investigative authorities are conducting a criminal procedural review into her death, specifically investigating the possibility of causing death by negligence (Article 109 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The maximum penalty for this charge is up to four years of imprisonment.

The Investigative Committee for the Novosibirsk Region has stated that the details of the ongoing preliminary investigation cannot be disclosed. NGS has reached out to the Ministry of Health of the Novosibirsk Region to inquire about potential inspections of the hospitals where Drozdova received treatment prior to her death. The prosecutor’s office of the region has also been contacted to determine the reasons for the closure of the case under Article 315 of the Criminal Code.

Drozdova’s mother reported that doctors declined to perform a CT scan to assess for cerebral edema while her daughter was hospitalized.