In the legendary Argentine player Diego Maradona’s death, eight healthcare personnel will be tried for criminal negligence.
After a medical panel concluded that Maradona’s treatment was plagued with “deficiencies and irregularities,” a court ordered a culpable murder trial.
At the age of 60, Maradona passed away in Buenos Aires after a heart attack in November 2020.
After having surgery to remove a cerebral blood clot earlier that month, he was recuperating at home.
A few days following his passing, Argentine prosecutors opened an inquiry into the medical professionals who treated him.
Last year, the panel of 20 experts appointed to examine his death found Maradona’s medical team acted in an “inappropriate, deficient and reckless manner”.
It also concluded that the footballer “would have had a better chance of survival” with adequate treatment in an appropriate medical facility, according to the court ruling.
Leopoldo Luque, the neurosurgeon and personal physician of Maradona, as well as a psychiatrist, a psychologist, two medical professionals, two nursing staff members, and their supervisor are all accused. Each of them has rejected being to blame for his demise.
The legal definition of murder, which is based on carelessness committed with knowing that it would result in a death, will be used in the trial of all eight defendants.
According to Argentina’s penal law, the offence carries a punishment of eight to 25 years in jail. The trial has not yet been given a date.