Could Maradona’s death have been avoided? Seven health professionals will be tried and can be held responsible for the player’s death

Doctors, nurses, a psychologist are accused of criminal neglect. Prosecutors say the former Argentine footballer was “in a situation of helplessness,” “abandoned to his own luck.” The defendants face penalties between eight and 25 years in prison

Seven health professionals who took care of Argentine footballer Diego Maradona during their last days of their lives begin to be tried on Tuesday, accused of criminal neglect. Maradona died on November 25, 2020, at age 60, while recovering from brain surgery due to a blood clot after decades fighting cocaine and alcohol addictions. Three weeks after being operated on, the player was found dead in bed in a rental house in an exclusive Buenos Aires neighborhood where he was taken after he had discharged from the hospital. It was said at the time that he would have had a heart attack. The nurse who accompanied him last night admitted that he had seen “alarm signs” but had received orders to “not wake up” Maradona. The autopsy determined that it was the victim of “acute pulmonary edema” and “heart failure”.

But according to prosecutors who investigate the case, “the fatal outcome could have been avoided.” The former footballer was “in a situation of helplessness”, “abandoned to his own luck”, due to the poor performance of health professionals who were responsible for the rehabilitation and detoxification of the Argentine player.

Based on this diagnosis, the magistrates accused doctors and nurses involved of simple homicide: seven of them will be tried from Tuesday at the San Isidro courts in Buenos Aires, and face possible penalties between eight and 25 years in prison.

More than 100 witnesses, including members of the family of Maradona and doctors who took care of him over the years, are expected to give testimony at the trial long postponed in the San Isidro suburb in Buenos Aires. Hearings should take place by July.

Who are the accused?

O Neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque43, was one of Maradona’s personal doctors in the last years of his life. In early November 2020, he had operated his skull due to a subdural bruise and recommended that he would recover in home hospitalization. Maradona stayed in a house in a condominium on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, without the minimum conditions necessary for treatment. For example, it did not have a defibrillator.

According to the accusation, the neurosurgeon did not comply with the obligations of taking care of Maradona and ignored the symptoms of diseases that led to his death. According to local press, text messages and audio, which are part of the process reveal, that Luque concealed information from Maradona’s family and referred to him with contempt and indifference. The doctor was also accused of falsifying the player’s signature, but the case was declared prescribed last year.

A Psychiatrist Agustina CosachoV, 40, began treating Maradona five months before her death. The prosecution states that Agustina Cosachov managed to the former coach drugs contraindicated to his diseases and did not accompany him personally. In addition, prosecutors point out that it was not in charge of “personally the resuscitation of the patient”, despite being “the only doctor present at the site” when Maradona was found unconscious. In another process, he was also accused of falsifying a medical certificate: he stated that Maradona was “oriented and lucid” without checking it, but, like Luque, the case eventually prescribed.

O Psychologist Carlos DayZ, a 33-year-old, specializes in dependency treatment and had joined Maradona’s team on October 26, 2020. According to the accusation, he is responsible for not having asked Maradona to be admitted to a proper institution, as well as having interfered with the treatment of the psychiatrist. Both Díaz and Cosachov are also accused of hiding their true health to the daughters of Maradona.

O Nurse Ricardo Almirón41, was one of the nurses sent by the private health company of Maradona, Swiss Medical, and was in charge of taking care of the patient at night. Prosecutors accuse him of not having respected protocols in the registration of the patient’s state and suspects that he was lied to declare that the night before his death was in normal conditions. According to the experts that performed the autopsy, Maradona was already in agony at that time. Almirón claimed that the player did not allow him to enter the room and that his only role was to manage the prescribed medicines: he merely prepare them and deliver them to the people close to the former futendon who were allowed to enter.

The other accused nurse is 37 -year -old Gisella Madrid, who will be the subject of a jury separated process.

O Médico Pedro of Spain49, was in charge of accompanying and supervising Maradona’s hospitalization at home. He is accused of not regularly controlled his health. The inquiry that only visited the patient twice in two weeks: on the first occasion, he asked for a series of exams, but did not confirm his performance; In the second, he claimed that Maradona did not agree to be examined.

Nancy Forlini56, was the director of the Swiss Medical Home Care Service. He was responsible for organizing the nursing service and therapeutic companions of the former soccer player. In his defense, he claimed that all decisions were in the hands of Maradona’s personal doctors.

The argument was questioned by the testimony of the other defendant, Mariano Perronithe coordinator of nurses. Perroni, 44, stated that his role was merely administrative, never saw Maradona and that his only contact was through Forlini. The Public Prosecution Service is prosecuting Perroni because he believes his reports do not reflect the real state of Maradona and the medical care he has received.

“If the doctors had done things well, he would be here”

Prosecutors accuse the medical team of insisting on Maradona to receive home care, which proved to be insufficient. They claim that the footballer was abandoned to his luck during a “prolonged and agonizing period” before his death. A panel of 20 medical experts convened by the Argentine Public Prosecution Service concluded in 2021 that Maradona “would have had more hypotheses of surviving” with proper treatment in an appropriate medical installation. “The performance of the health team that watched Diego Armando Maradona was inadequate, disabled and reckless,” the experts concluded.

“Maradona began to die at least 12 hours before 12:30 on November 25th. It presented unmistakable signs of a prolonged period of agony, so we concluded that the patient was not properly watched from 0:30 of the day of his death, ”the experts say.

Maradona’s family claims that audio and text messages exchanged among the elements of the medical team show that the player’s health was in imminent danger, said Mario Baudry, lawyer of Maradona’s son Dieguito. According to him, the messages show that the strategy of the medical team was to try to ensure that the daughters did not intervene “because if they did, they [a equipa médica] they would lose their money. ”

“For almost four and a half years we’ve been waiting for this day and the truth is that it has to start because there are many things to clarify,” said Maradona’s son on the television show “” this Monday. “If the doctors had done things well, he would be here,” he said. “I trust in justice and I believe that sooner or later they will pay. They gave him some medications and knew that he was going to die and there was a lot of interest in which he died. We want justice to our father,” he concluded.

All accused deny responsibility for the star’s death. Vadim Mischchuk, a lawyer for psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, said she was “very optimistic” about an acquittal, arguing that her client was responsible for Maradona’s mental and non -physical health.

In 2020, the death of the 1986 World Championship plunged Argentina into the mourning in the middle of Covid-19. Tens of thousands of people row to say goodbye to the former boss of Boca Juniors and Naples, while his body was veiled in the presidential palace. Now, the Argentines accompany the lawsuit with equal attention. In the neighborhood of La Paternal, in Buenos Aires, where the player nicknamed “El Pibe de Oro” (The Golden Boy) revealed his talent as a player of Argentines Juniors in the 1970s, several walls were graffiti asking “justice for Diego!”.