Twenty healthcare workers from Foggia’s Policlinico Riuniti Hospital, including doctors and nurses, have been officially placed under investigation on manslaughter charges in relation to the death of a 23-year-old patient, Natasha Pugliese.
The young woman from the Puglia town of Cerignola died on September 4 in the hospital’s operating room where she was undergoing surgery after she was injured in an accident in June while driving an electric scooter.
After learning about her death, a group of about 20 people including members of her family and friends attacked medical personnel, injuring in particular a surgeon and a doctor – the latest in a string of attacks on hospital staff in Italy.
The official investigation notices were a necessary step after prosecutors in Foggia probing the young woman’s death scheduled an autopsy on Wednesday to establish the cause of death.
Source: Ansa News Agency