Seven healthcare workers who treated Diego Maradona are accused of “condemning him to oblivion” by negligence, prosecutors have said.
The 1986 World Cup winner, one of the sport’s greatest-ever players, died in a house outside Buenos Aires in November 2020 following a cardiac arrest. He was 60.
Seven healthcare professionals, including a neurosurgeon, a psychiatrist and several medical staffers, have gone on trial for manslaughter after being accused of failing to provide Maradona with adequate medical care.
Prosecutor Patricio Ferrari said their case is that, at some point in the two weeks before his death, Maradona was taken to a house in a private neighborhood in the town of Tigre, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, without being in “full use of his mental faculties” to decide on home hospitalisation.
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Mr Ferrari called it “reckless”, adding “after condemning him to oblivion in that house… they deliberately and cruelly decided that he should die”.
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Mr Ferrari showed the court a picture of the former footballer lying in the bed where he was found dead with his abdomen visibly swollen.
Maradona’s family, including his oldest daughters, Dalma and Giannina, sat in the front row near Verónica Ojeda, a former partner of the footballer, and Jana, another of his daughters.
Minutes before the start of the trial, Ojeda shared a video on social media of Maradona’s son Diego Fernando wearing a T-shirt with the face of the football star, and the word “justice.”
The trial could last up to four months and there will be three hearings per week. If found guilty, the defendants, who all deny wrongdoing, could be jailed for 25 years.
Among the accused is neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, Maradona’s personal doctor for the last four years of his life.
Mr Luque operated to remove a blood clot from the former footballer’s brain just weeks before his death.
Psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, who prescribed the medication that Maradona took until the time of his death, psychologist Carlos Díaz, coordinator of the medical company hired to care for him during his hospitalisation, Nancy Forlini, representative of the company that rendered nursing service, Mariano Perroni, Dr Pedro Di Spagna, who monitored his treatment, and nurse Ricardo Almiron are also standing trial.
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Gisela Madrid, a nurse who was also indicted, will be tried by a jury later this year.
