BARI – The oncologist from Bari Vito Lorusso has agreed to a 5-year prison sentence, accused of embezzlement, extortion, aggravated fraud and abusive access to the IT system committed from June 2017 to July 2023. There are 23 patients, all suffering from oncological pathologies , which over the years Lorusso, former head of oncology at the John Paul II tumor institute in Bari, 69 years old, would have forced him to pay between 100 and 150 euros for each visit and for each administration of chemo even though these were services for which the sick were entitled to it free of charge. For these accusations the oncologist ended up under house arrest, was suspended and then fired from the hospital. In the preliminary hearing, some of the victims had asked to appear as civil parties, as well as the Oncology Institute and the medical association. Lorusso, defended by lawyers Gaetano and Luca Castellaneta, has already returned all the amounts unduly pocketed to all patients and to the hospital.
The investigation began after the complaint presented by the mother of a patient who had since died. Some allegedly paid the doctor cash sums of between 50 and 300 euros to obtain a fast track to treatment. Hence the accusations of extortion (because the patients would have been forced to hand over money for the infusion which is free in the Italian healthcare system) and of embezzlement to the detriment of the hospital (because the check-ups booked under the intramoenia regime must be paid to the Cup). The investigation also ascertained paid home visits (from 100 to 200 euros per service) from March 2020 to July 2023, the last three days before he was arrested, despite having an exclusivity contract with the Irccs with the sole authorization for intramoenic activity.
In February the doctor ended up under house arrest again as part of the “Internal Code” investigation by the Bari DDA into the alleged mafia political exchange vote together with his daughter Maria Carmen and son-in-law Giacomo Olivieri (the latter in prison) .
