Seven healthcare professionals are set to stand trial next week, four years after the passing of Argentine football icon Diego Maradona, facing accusations of negligence during his final days.
Over the four-month trial, which begins Tuesday in San Isidro, a suburb of Buenos Aires, more than 100 witnesses, including Maradona’s family members and doctors who cared for him throughout the years, are expected to testify.
The seven individuals could face sentences ranging from eight to 25 years if found guilty. Diego Armando Maradona passed away on November 25, 2020, at the age of 60 while recuperating from brain surgery to address a blood clot, following decades of struggles with cocaine and alcohol addiction.
He was discovered deceased in bed at a rented residence in an upscale area of Buenos Aires, where he had been taken after being released from the hospital two weeks post-surgery. The cause of death was determined to be a heart attack.
A night nurse reported that he noticed some “warning signs” but was instructed not to wake Maradona.
The circumstances surrounding Maradona’s death, which occurred amid the Covid-19 pandemic, led to widespread mourning across Argentina.
Thousands lined up to pay their respects as his body was laid in state at the presidential palace. Neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, psychologist Carlos Diaz, medical coordinator Nancy Forlini, nursing coordinator Mariano Perroni, doctor Pedro Pablo Di Spagna, and nurse Ricardo Almiro are all set to go on trial next week.
Another nurse, Gisela Dahiana Madrid, requested to be tried separately by a jury, with her trial scheduled for July. Prosecutors allege that the medical professionals delivered “reckless” and “deficient” home care to Maradona, claiming he was left to suffer for an “extended, agonizing period” before his passing.
In 2021, a panel of 20 medical experts assembled by Argentina’s public prosecutor concluded that Maradona “would have had a better chance of survival” if he had received adequate care in a suitable medical facility.
The investigating judge in this case indicated that each accused individual contributed to the chain of events leading to Maradona’s death.
All of the accused deny any wrongdoing with the legendary player’s death.
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