Could Maradona’s death have been avoided? Trial of soccer star’s carers begins in Buenos Aires

The autopsy determined that Diego Armando Maradona died at the age of 60, on November 25, 2020, victim of “acute pulmonary edema” and “heart failure.” But, according to the prosecutors who investigated the case, “the fatal outcome could have been avoided.” The former soccer player was “in a helpless situation,” “left to his own devices,” due to the poor performance of the health professionals who were in charge of the rehabilitation and detoxification of the Argentine star. Based on this diagnosis, the magistrates accused eight members of the team of doctors and nurses involved of homicide: seven of them will be tried starting Tuesday in the courts of San Isidro, Buenos Aires, and face possible sentences of between eight and 25 years in prison.

The neurosurgeon

Leopoldo Luque, 43, was one of Maradona’s personal doctors in the last years of his life. At the beginning of November 2020, he had performed cranial surgery on him for a subdural hematoma and then recommended that he be admitted to home care for rehabilitation. This ended up taking place in a house, in a private neighborhood on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, without the minimum conditions necessary for the care of the patient. According to the indictment, the neurosurgeon failed to fulfill his obligations to care for Maradona and dismissed the symptoms of the ailments that caused his death. The text and audio messages included in the case would reveal, according to local press reports, that Luque withheld information from Maradona’s family and referred to him with contempt and indifference. The doctor was also accused of forging the signature of the captain of the Argentina national team that won the World Cup in 1986, but the case was declared statute-barred last year.

The psychiatrist

Agustina Cosachov, 40, had begun treating Maradona five months before his death. The indictment details that she administered medication that was contraindicated for his ailments and did not personally monitor him. The prosecutors point out that she failed to “personally take charge of the resuscitation of the patient” despite being “the only doctor present at the scene” when he was found unconscious. In a related file, she was charged with falsifying a medical certificate: she stated that Maradona was “oriented and lucid” without having examined him. Like Luque, who was the one who brought her closer to Maradona’s entourage, she was granted the benefit of the statute of limitations in 2024 for that case.

The psychologist

Carlos Díaz, 33, is a psychoanalyst dedicated to the treatment of addictions and had joined the team that treated Maradona on October 26, 2020. For the prosecution, he is responsible for not having requested the hospitalization in an appropriate institution to care for the Argentine idol, as well as having interfered in the treatment promoted by the psychiatrist. Both Díaz and Cosachov are also accused of having hidden from Maradona’s daughters the real state of his health.

The nurse

Ricardo Almirón, 41, was one of the nurses provided by the private health company that treated Maradona — Swiss Medical — and was in charge of his night care. Prosecutors accuse him of not respecting protocols when recording information about the patient’s condition and suspect that he lied when he reported that during the night before his death he was in normal condition. For the experts who performed the autopsy, he was already dying at that time. Almirón claimed that Maradona did not allow him to enter his room and that his only role was to administer the prescribed medications: he was limited to preparing them and giving them to people close to the former player who were allowed in. The other accused nurse is Gisella Madrid, 37, but she will be tried in a separate process, in a jury trial.

The supervisor

The 49-year-old doctor Pedro Di Spagna was in charge of monitoring and supervising Maradona’s home hospitalization. He is accused of not having regularly monitored his health. The investigation determined that he only visited the patient twice in two weeks: the first time he requested a series of tests, but did not confirm that they were carried out; the second time he claimed that Maradona did not agree to be examined.

The coordinators

Doctor Nancy Forlini, 56, was the manager of home care at Swiss Medical. She was responsible for organizing the nursing service and therapeutic companions for the former footballer. In her defense, she claimed that all decisions were in the hands of the former player’s personal doctors. This argument was called into question by the statement of the other accused, Mariano Perroni, coordinator of the nurses. Perroni, 44, claimed that his role was merely administrative, that he never saw Maradona, and that his only contact was through Forlini. The prosecution implicates Perroni because it believes that his reports had no relation to Maradona’s real condition or the medical care he received.

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