An Argentine appeals court on Tuesday, April 18, confirmed that eight medical professionals accused of responsibility in the death of football legend Diego Maradona will face trial.

Among those accused are a psychologist, a clinical doctor, a medical coordinator, nursing coordinator and nurses.

 

Maradona died in November 2020 aged 60 while recovering from brain surgery for a blood clot, and after decades of battles with cocaine and alcohol addictions.

 

He was found dead in bed two weeks after undergoing surgery, in a rented house in an exclusive Buenos Aires neighborhood where he was brought after being discharged from hospital.

He was found to have died of a heart attack.

Neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov and six others had appealed a 2022 decision to put them on trial for homicide with potential aggravating circumstances.

Prosecutors accused the medical professionals of being involved in “reckless” and “deficient” home treatment of a patient.

The eight defendants had appealed to the court in San Isidro, against the severity of the charges, arguing that they should be accused of involuntary homicide.

The initial accusation of homicide with “dolus eventualis” holds a person responsible for negligence while knowing that such conduct could lead to death.

 

A panel of 20 medical experts convened by Argentina’s public prosecutor said in 2021 that Maradona “would have had a better chance of survival” with adequate treatment in an appropriate medical facility.

 

No trial date has yet been set.