Maradona was 'very difficult patient', surgeon tells death trial

Former Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona smokes a cigar before the start of the Argentine First Division soccer match between Boca Juniors and San Lorenzo de Almagro at La Bombonera stadium in Buenos Aires February 19, 2006. [REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci]

Diego Maradona was a "very difficult patient" who had to be coaxed into treatment, a surgeon told the trial Thursday of seven health professionals accused of criminal negligence over his death.

The Argentine football legend died on November 25, 2020 at age 60, while recovering at home from brain surgery for a blood clot.

His seven-person medical team is on trial for what prosecutors have called the "horror theater" of his care in the final days of his life, at a private home in the Buenos Aires suburb of Tigre.

Maradona died of heart failure and acute pulmonary edema -- a condition where fluid accumulates in the lungs -- two weeks after going under the knife.

One of the questions at the heart of the trial is whether the decision to allow him to convalesce in a private home instead of a medical facility endangered his life.

Neurosurgeon Rodolfo Benvenuti supervised Maradona's surgery.

He told the court he struggled to convince Maradona to have a CT scan beforehand.

"He was a very difficult patient," Benvenuti recalled, describing him as "defiant."

He said that Maradona wanted to leave the clinic as soon as possible after the surgery and was "not going to accept any hospitalization other than home care."

He said he believed that the star's condition needed daily assessment by a doctor.

But the evidence presented to the court so far showed his team of caregivers had only scheduled weekly doctor's visits, one of which failed to take place due to Maradona's reluctance to be seen.

Maradona was found dead in bed by a day nurse.

The trial has focused so far on the conditions of his home care, described by prosecutors as grossly negligent.

The defendants risk prison terms between eight and 25 years if convicted of "homicide with possible intent" -- pursuing a course of action despite knowing it could lead to death.

The trial in the Buenos Aires suburb of San Isidro, which began on March 11, is set to continue until July.