Late national icon Diego Maradona had no alcohol or recreational drugs in his blood when he died, despite his history of substance abuse, an expert witness said Tuesday at the trial probing seven health professionals over the ex-footballer's death.
“None of the four tubes [of samples] were detectable for cocaine, marijuana, MDMA, ecstasy or amphetamine,” said toxicology expert Ezequiel Ventosi, who analysed Maradona's blood, urine and swab samples after his death.
Ventosi said no alcohol was found either.
Five substances corresponding to antidepressants, anticonvulsants, antipsychotics and anti-nausea drugs were detected in samples taken after his death.
Maradona died on November 25, 2020 at age 60, while recovering at home from brain surgery for a blood clot. He had battled cocaine and alcohol addiction for decades.
The late star was found to have died of heart failure and acute pulmonary edema – a condition where fluid accumulates in the lungs – two weeks after going under the knife.
Ventosi's testimony came at the opening of the fourth week of the trial taking place in San Isidro, a northern suburb of Buenos Aires near the town of Tigre, where the idol died.
At Tuesday's hearing, testimony given in 2021 by Maradona's personal doctor between 1978 and 2009, Alfredo Cahe, who died last year, was read out.
According to the statement, Cahe saw Maradona in November 2020, when he was recovering from surgery at a clinic in Olivios.
Everything seemed “strange” to him, noted Cahe, who said Leopoldo Luque, the former sportsman's doctor at the time of his death, did not answer questions about the patient's health.
Cahe also questioned the decision to allow Maradona to be cared for at home. “He should have been under intensive care with constant and continuous heart monitoring,” said the late doctor, who alleged negligence and pointed to the lack of regular consultations and heart medication.
“With proper monitoring and control, it [the death> was avoidable,” concluded the testimony.
Three other experts also testified on Tuesday, among them the pathologist Silvana de Piero, who analysed Maradona’s organs after the death and concluded that the late star’s liver showed signs compatible with cirrhosis.
She also noted problems with the kidneys and lungs, adding that the heart showed signs of a lack of oxygen.
Maradona’s seven-person medical team is on trial for what prosecutors have called the "horror theatre" of the final days of his life.
The defendants in the case are accused of "homicide with possible intent" – pursuing a course of action despite knowing it can lead to their patient's death.
They risk prison terms of between eight and 25 years.
Prosecutors allege the footballer was abandoned to his fate for a "prolonged, agonising period" before his death.
Nearly 120 witnesses are expected to testify in the long-delayed trial expected to run until July.
An eighth defendant – a nurse – will be dealt with in a separate trial
– TIMES/AFP
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