Medical tests in Maradona death trial belonged to his father, health insurer admits

BUENOS AIRES, Aug 25 — An Argentine health insurance company, Swiss Medical, has admitted that medical tests presented at the trial over the death of late football icon Diego Maradona were actually those of his father, Diego Salustiano Maradona. In a letter to AFP, Swiss Medical stated that the tests, which were mistakenly filed under Maradona's name, belonged to his late father who passed away in 2015, five years before the football legend.

The error was discovered last week by a lawyer representing one of the seven healthcare professionals on trial over Maradona's death in November 2020. Maradona, who died of heart failure and acute pulmonary edema at the age of 60, had undergone surgery for a brain clot two weeks prior to his death in a rented home in the Buenos Aires suburb of Tigre.

His medical team is accused of providing inadequate care in the lead-up to his death, a charge they deny. The trial, which began in April and is expected to continue until September, focused on Maradona's kidney health, with a nephrologist testifying that doctors should have paid more attention to the issue. The mix-up led to a week-long suspension of proceedings, further complicating matters after the collapse of a previous trial the previous year involving a conflict of interest.