Bari prosecutors have opened a
wrongful death probe into 54 surgeons and anesthesiologists
after a 24-year-old man died following eight surgeries in two
months.
The patient had gone to the emergency room on July 16 and
17, where he was prescribed pain killers and released both times
after being diagnosed with renal colic, a type of abdominal pain
commonly caused by kidney stones.
He returned to the emergency room a third time on July 20.
This time he was hospitalized in his native town of Altamura, in
Bari province, where doctors removed a cyst.
His condition deteriorated, and the following day he was
placed in intensive care and operated on twice: once for the
removal of part of his intestine, then for the removal of his
spleen, which was necrotic.
Necrosis is the premature death of cells in living tissue,
and can lead to decomposition and gangreen if left untreated.
The patient was then transferred to Bari's Policlinico
hospital, where he underwent five more surgeries.
He died on September 14.
Prosecutors are investigating 30 suspects at the Altamura
hospital and 24 at the Bari Policlinico.
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