Doctor: Maradona's 'self-harming behaviour' should've ruled out home care

Home care “was not a valid option” for Diego Maradona because the late football legend exhibited “self-harming behaviour,” said the director of the clinic that operated on the former star shortly before his death, speaking on Tuesday.

Pablo Dimitroff, director of the Clínica Olivos on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, made his remarks during the ongoing trial into the death of Maradona.

The football legend died on November 25, 2020, at the age of 60, while recovering at home from brain surgery for a blood clot.

His seven-person medical team is on trial for what prosecutors have described as the “horror theatre” of his care in the final days of his life, at a private residence in the Greater Buenos Aires suburb of Tigre.

Maradona died of heart failure and acute pulmonary oedema – a condition in which fluid builds up in the lungs – just weeks after undergoing surgery.

Doctors at the Clínica Olivos performed successful neurosurgery on the former footballer two weeks before he died.

Speaking before the judges overseeing the trial, Dimitroff explained Tuesday that the institution had proposed transferring Maradona to a facility “where they would be responsible not only for his motor rehabilitation, but also for weaning him off his regular consumption of harmful substances.”

Dimitroff did not specify which substances he was referring to.

He added that two days after the surgery, Maradona experienced “a psychomotor agitation episode and withdrawal syndrome” in the clinic and insisted “vehemently” that he wanted to go home.

For this reason, according to Dimitroff, “the option of the patient going home was never a valid one” due to his “self-harming behaviour.”

“He wasn’t eating properly, he was consuming things that were harmful to him, he didn’t take his medication as prescribed, he wouldn’t get out of bed, he was awake at night and asleep during the day. We believed that the home was not the appropriate place for the continuation of treatment,” Dimitroff said.

The doctor’s statement came during a new hearing in the trial, which since 11 March has been evaluating the responsibility of the team of specialists in charge of Maradona's healthcare.

According to the clinic director, Maradona’s personal doctor, Leopoldo Luque – one of the accused – told him it was “impossible” to hospitalise the former star because he refused to go anywhere other than his home.

He also said that a document was signed in which the clinic officially stated it was “against the patient continuing his medical rehabilitation at home.”

The letter was signed by Maradona’s medical team with the family’s consent, he said.

“El Diez” did not sign the document himself, which became a point of contention during the hearing.

Search warrant

Towards the end of the hearing, the court ordered an immediate search of Clínica Olivos within 24 hours, at the request of the prosecution, with agreement from the plaintiffs and some of the defence.

In a unanimous vote, the three judges leading the case requested access to the medical centre to obtain records of all documentation related to Maradona’s hospitalisation.

The prosecution’s request followed Dimitroff’s statement, in which he provided results of pre-surgical tests that had not yet been included in the case file.

Last week, the head of intensive care at the institution, Fernando Villarejo, stated that no pre-surgical tests had been carried out on Maradona.

According to a police report seen by the Noticias Argentinas news agency, the operation aimed to uncover all digital and paper-based documentation of treatment and hospitalisation records for Maradona between November 3 and November 11, 2020.

Authorities later confirmed the seizure of both digital files and printed documentation deemed relevant to the investigation. According to reports, they took Maradona’s full medical history file, comprising 279 pages, six laboratory reports, and 547 email exchanges between the accused individuals.

Three more witnesses have been called to testify specifically on the pre-surgical tests performed on Maradona.

In a further development, the court has ordered a confrontation hearing (careo) between Dimitroff and Villarejo, after conflicting statements regarding the handling and documentation of Maradona’s treatment.

The late footballer’s medical team – including Luque, psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, psychologist Carlos Díaz, nurse Ricardo Omar Almirón, general practitioner Pedro Pablo Di Spagna, head of nursing Mariano Perroni, and Swiss Medical coordinator Nancy Edith Forlini – are all facing charges of homicide with possible intent (dolo eventual) – pursuing a course of action despite knowing it could lead to death.

They face between eight and 25 years in prison.

An eighth defendant, nurse Gisela Madrid, will be tried separately.

The trial, taking place in the Buenos Aires suburb of San Isidro, began on 11 March and is expected to continue through July.

– TIMES/AFP/NA