Diego Maradona was convalescing after surgery for a brain clot at a rented home in the Buenos Aires suburb of Tigre when he died. He was 60. The home had no hospital bed, defibrillator or quickly available ambulance.
Maradona underwent the surgery and died two weeks later, on 25 November 2020, from heart failure and acute pulmonary edema.
Seven medical professionals, including his chief doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist and nurses, have been on trial since April. They are accused of providing grossly inadequate care in the period before his death.
The defendants face a charge of ‘dolo eventual’, a legal term used where a person is aware that their actions could cause harm and nevertheless persists. The prosecution’s case is that Maradona’s carers did not respond to warning signs including edema, tachycardia and difficulty breathing, according to medical experts who testified at the trial.
Prosecutors also cited the lack of medical equipment at the rented home. Patricio Ferrai, a prosecutor, described the defendants’ conduct as a ‘chaotic organisation’ that left Maradona ‘in a helpless situation, abandoning him to his fate’.
Assistant prosecutor Cosme Iribarren told the court: ‘Diego Armando Maradona's death clearly did not come out of nowhere: the signs of this fatal outcome began to appear long beforehand’.
Prosecutors have asked for prison terms of up to 12 years. Leopoldo Luque, Maradona’s personal physician, faces the highest sentence sought, while prosecutors requested terms of four to 10 years for other medical staff.
Maradona’s three daughters were in court at the start of the summation. The summation is expected to last around two weeks, with a verdict due at a later date.
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