Buenos Aires (Argentina), Mar 28 (LaPresse/AP) – One of the forensic experts responsible for Diego Armando Maradona’s autopsy stated that the legendary Argentine footballer suffered at least 12 hours of agony before his death and noted that “any doctor” should have recognized the symptoms days earlier.
Carlos Cassinelli, director of forensic medicine at the Argentine Scientific Police Superintendency, provided details of the autopsy on Maradona’s body. The football icon passed away on November 25, 2020, while under home hospitalization in a house in Tigre, Buenos Aires.
“The heart was completely covered in fat and blood clots, which indicates agony,” the specialist stated during the ongoing trial for homicide against seven healthcare professionals. The autopsy concluded that Maradona died from acute pulmonary edema secondary to congestive heart failure.
“This was a patient who had been retaining water for days; it was not a sudden condition. It was something foreseeable,” Cassinelli explained. “Any doctor examining the patient would have understood that.”
According to the prosecution, the accused professionals—including a neurosurgeon, a psychiatrist, a psychologist, doctors, and nurses—failed to provide Maradona with adequate medical care, allegedly leading to his death.
During the investigation, several witnesses reported noticing that Maradona’s face and abdomen were excessively swollen. Among the defendants are Leopoldo Luque, Maradona’s personal doctor for the last four years of his life, and psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, who prescribed the medications Maradona was taking up until his death.