Agencies
Eight medical personnel are to stand trial accused of criminal negligence in the death of legendary Argentinian footballer Diego Maradona.
According to the BBC, a judge has ordered a culpable homicide trial after a medical panel found Maradona’s treatment was rife with “deficiencies and irregularities”.
Maradona died in November 2020 of a heart attack in Buenos Aires, aged 60.
He had been recovering at home from surgery on a brain blood clot earlier that month.
A few days after his death Argentine prosecutors launched an investigation into the doctors and nurses involved in his care, BBC further reported.
According to Reuters, a medical board appointed to investigate Maradona’s death concluded in 2021 that the soccer star’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.
The court ruling said that eight people including doctors, nurses and a psychologist who cared for Maradona at the time of his death are accused of “simple homicide,” a serious charge that means taking a life with intent.
Among those facing charges are Maradona’s neurosurgeon and personal doctor, Leopoldo Luque, a psychiatrist and psychologist, two doctors, two nurses and their boss. They have all denied responsibility for his death, BBC reported.
All eight will be tried on a legal definition of homicide based on negligence committed in the knowledge that it may lead to a person’s death.
The crime can hold a sentence of eight to 25 years in prison, according to Argentina’s penal code. A date for the trial is yet to be set.
