Yahoo Finance Diego Maradona's doctor being investigated for possible manslaughter following soccer legend's death
Police in Argentina raided the home and offices of Leopoldo Luque, Diego Maradona’s personal doctor, on Sunday as part of an investigation into the soccer legend’s death.
Maradona, 60, died of a heart attack at his Buenos Aires-area home on Nov. 25, just weeks after undergoing surgery to relieve bleeding on his brain.
Around 60 officers conducted the raids at the two locations, according to local reports, and left with medical records. Prosecutors are looking into how Maradona was treated in his final days, and are investigating Luque for negligence that could result in possible manslaughter charges. Luque is cooperating with authorities, he said at an emotional press conference later Sunday.
“I know what I did. I know how I did it,” Luque said while choking back tears, adding that he was not Maradona’s chief physician but rather a member of a team of doctors that had been treating the icon since his Nov. 3 operation. “I am absolutely sure that I did the best for Diego, the best I could.”
Police targeted Luque after Maradona’s daughters and other family members sought details of the medications Maradona was being administered post-op, per a statement from the local prosecutor's office that is conducting the probe. The BBC reported Sunday that they fear Maradona was not receiving proper care since being discharged from the hospital two weeks before his death.
There are suspicions that the star's convalescence at home might not have met the conditions of his discharge from the clinic, such as a 24-hour team of nurses "specialized in substance abuse", the on-call presence of doctors and a stand-by ambulance equipped with a defibrillator.
Officials want to know how often Dr. Luque went to see Maradona at his house.
Maradona became a godlike figure in his home country after leading Argentina to the 1986 World Cup title. But he battled health and addiction problems during and especially after his playing career ended in 1997. At the time of his passing, he was the head coach of Argentine Primera Division club Gimnasia.
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