Diego Maradona Death: 8 Medical Staff Including Doctors, Nurses, Psychologists Face Homicide Trial

The medical staff who looked after the healthcare needs of soccer legend Diego Maradona will face a homicide trial after being accused of criminal negligence that led to his death. On Wednesday, an Argentine court announced that prosecutors are pushing for the trial of eight of Maradona’s caregivers for their “omissions” while he was under their watch.

According to the New York Post, prosecutors are looking into the events that transpired while Maradona was recovering from surgery. In the court ruling, all of his eight doctors and caregivers are accused of negligent homicide, with investigations from a medical board concluding that his medical staff conducted themselves in a reckless, inappropriate manner and rendered deficient care. Prosecutors claim that the mismanagement of Maradona’s medical team caused him to linger in a state of helplessness while in recovery. A lawyer representing one of Maradona’s sons, Mario Baudry said that the staff was allegedly responsible for a series of management failures and shortcomings.

Among those under the formal investigation are Maradona’s attending doctor and neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, psychologist Carloz Diaz as well as his medical coordinators Nancy Forlini and Pedro Di Spagna. Two nurses and their boss are also on the list.

During a conference, Luque denied any responsibility as the surgeon was in tears while insisting he did everything in his capability to save Maradona when the soccer star had to go under the knife to remove a blood clot from his brain. At this same time, Luque has also been charged with using a doctored document by forging Maradona’s signature to acquire his medical records from a hospital. Maradona's operation was successful, but sadly, he succumbed to a fatal heart attack two weeks later in November 2020. He was 60 years old.

“As soon as I saw the cause, I said it was homicide. I fought for a long time and here we are, with this stage completed,” he said.

Although autopsy findings stated that Maradona died of natural causes, investigations are looking into the possibility that his death could have been prevented and that his medical staff failed to take action. If found guilty, all of the accused could face a prison sentence between 8 to 25 years in an Argentinian prison. A date is yet to be set for the trial.