The Foundation For The Defense Of The Citizens Against State Abuses (FACIAS) has obtained a court ruling that should put an end to the legislative vacuum in healthcare, a situation that has directly affected the safety and lives of patients in Romania. After a delay of almost five years, on Friday, November 14, 2025, the Bucharest Court of Appeal obliged the Romanian Government to adopt the implementing rules of Law no. 3/2021 on the prevention and control of healthcare-associated infections.
Hospital-acquired infections are one of the most widespread and critical unreported problems in the Romanian healthcare system. Once the rules are adopted, the public and private hospitals in the country will be obliged to transparently report the actual number of nosocomial infections, treat patients who have contracted them during hospitalization and comply with a clear legal framework for prevention and intervention. The rules will include sanctions for medical facilities that omit or falsify reports, ranging from fines to the withdrawal of the health license, depending on the seriousness of the situation. The victory obtained by FACIAS in court re-establishes the fundamental right of citizens to be protected and correctly informed about the risks in medical establishments.
Law No. 3/2021, which regulates the surveillance, prevention and control of healthcare-associated infections, entered into force in January 2021. However, its key provisions remained without legal effect due to the Government's failure to fulfill its obligation to adopt methodological rules. In the absence of these rules, hospitals continued to incompletely or incorrectly report cases of infections acquired by patients during hospitalization.
FACIAS recalls that although less than 1% of nosocomial infections are officially reported in Romania, compared to a European average of more than 7%, the reality in hospitals dramatically contradicts these figures. The proof of this under-reporting is reflected in serious cases that have come to light in the press, such as the one in September 2024, when 11 newborns were infected with resistant bacteria at the Giulești Maternity Hospital in Bucharest, or the case in August 2025 at the Bucharest Emergency Hospital (Floreasca), where three infections with Candida auris, an extremely resistant and dangerous fungus, were confirmed.
FACIAS calls on the Romanian Government to urgently adopt the rules set out in Law 3/2021 and publish them in the Official Gazette. The law against nosocomial infections will also allow patients to find out which hospitals are registering the most infections.