Diego Maradona's death: His doctor, six others to be questioned
In a major development, Diego Maradona's personal physician and six others accused of 'neglecting' the football legend in his final days, will be questioned by Argentine prosecutors from Monday. The seven people were placed under investigation for manslaughter after a board of experts monitoring Maradona's death discovered that he had received inadequate care for a prolonged period. Here are further details.
Argentine legend Maradona died of a heart failure in November 2020, weeks after undergoing a brain surgery for a blood clot. Thereafter, a complaint was filed by two of Maradona's five children, against neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque. Earlier this year, a panel of 20 medical experts said Maradona's treatment had "deficiencies and irregularities", and that the medical team had left his survival "to fate".
The panel concluded that Maradona "would have had a better chance of survival", had he received treatment in an appropriate medical facility. Instead, he died in his bed in a rented house, wherein he was being attended.
Besides neurosurgeon Luque, the others under investigation are Maradona's psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, psychologist Carlos Diaz, nurses Ricardo Almiron and Dahiana Madrid, nursing coordinator Mariano Perroni, and medical coordinator Nancy Forlini. Over two weeks from Monday, they will appear individually before prosecutors to reply to the allegations against them. A judge will then decide whether the matter should go to trial.
Luque has perpetually defended his actions, stating "I did my best. I offered Diego everything I could, some things he accepted, others not." The doctor added that Maradona had been depressed in his final days. "I know that the (coronavirus) quarantine hit him very hard," Luque had said. Notably, Maradona was addicted to cocaine and alcohol during his life.
Football legend, Maradona passed away at the age of 60, in November 2020. The former Napoli star had a successful surgery on a brain blood clot before his death. After that, he had to be treated for alcohol dependency. However, he died after succumbing to heart failure. Maradona led Argentina to the 1986 World Cup victory, and produced several match-winning performances.
