TRANI – The sentence imposed by the Trani magistrate, Anna Lucia Altamura, on two doctors who ended up on trial as part of the investigation into the death of Antonia Abbatangelo is one year’s imprisonment each for omission of official acts. the 41-year-old from Trani who died following complications from Covid on 19 November 2020 at the Dimiccoli hospital in Barletta.
The sentence, pronounced with an abbreviated procedure, was issued against Rita Capraro and Paolo Saracino, at the time of the events respectively doctor on duty at the Trani emergency room and colleague of the medical guard. The verdict aligned with the requests of the public prosecutor, who had requested acquittal for both of them on the charge of manslaughter (in the sentence the acquittal was pronounced “for not having committed the crime”, with a doubtful formula). Compensation was also ordered for the family members, who were made civil parties with the lawyer Giorgia Di Savino.
The woman, mother of a small child, suffered from obesity problems. On 12 November 2020 – in the midst of the pandemic – due to the unavailability of the 118 service, Abbatangelo was accompanied to the first aid station in Trani, but she was already in critical condition. According to what is contested by the prosecution, the doctor on duty, without examining her, told her to go to the emergency medical service: here, in turn, she was told to return to the emergency room. At that point the 41-year-old was forced to return to her home, without having received a diagnosis and above all without anyone having subjected her to a verification swab.
Unfortunately her condition was already critical, in fact the woman already showed obvious signs of cyanosis.
The investigators believe that the two doctors “unduly refused” to take charge of the patient, which should have been done without delay. Furthermore, the violation of the 2020 operational protocol, drawn up by the 118 health emergency system of the provinces of Bari and Bat, is contested, according to which cyanosis had to be classified as a code red.
