On Tuesday, February 6, 2018, the journalist Débora Pérez Volpin arrived at the Trinidad Clinic in Palermo to undergo an endoscopy.
She died in the operating room and the news shocked the country.
This Monday
marks the fifth anniversary of that day
.
There are two judicial cases in progress: the
Cassation resolution
is still awaited against the endoscopist, sentenced in the first instance to three years in prison on hold, and against the anesthesiologist, who was acquitted.
They are also awaiting an oral trial against the institution's medical director for
concealment
and against an instrumentalist for false testimony.
In 2019, the oral trial for
culpable homicide
was held against Diego Bialolenkier, the endoscopist in charge of the procedure, and Nélida Puente, the anesthetist who intervened that day.
The Oral Criminal and Correctional Court No. 8 of the Federal Capital found Bialolenkier guilty and sentenced him to
three years in suspended prison
and disqualification from practicing medicine for seven years and six months.
While Puente was acquitted.
Both the complaint and Bialolenkier appealed the sentence.
"We request seven years of effective prison for the endoscopist," said Debora Lichtmann, a lawyer for the Pérez Volpin family.
Diego Ariel Bialolenkier, the endoscopist sentenced to three years in prison suspended.
Photo: Alfredo Martinez
Regarding Puente, they asked "that her acquittal be reviewed, taking into account that
there was no quick reaction on her part
and she was in charge of the patient's health."
"The experts confirmed it. Puente did not realize that it was a perforation by the endoscope, he even thought that the picture could have to do with an allergy to anesthesia," explains the plaintiff lawyer, who affirms that, surely, This was related to the fact that "the patient was not connected to cardiological control, they had only placed the oximeter on her."
He says that
"it is a shame"
that Cassation is taking so long.
“It may take a year but not three to four, as is happening.
We presented several letters, the last one last December, and they replied that they were going to solve it and that they had more urgent cases, ”she adds.
It also refers to the case against Roberto Martingano, medical director of the institution at the time of the events, and the instrumentalist Eliana Frías.
“Martingano is accused of concealment, which includes sentences of up to three years.
This has to do with the fact that he delivered a cardiology report without the pages in the middle, precisely to avoid proving that the patient was not connected to cardiology control.
In addition, he presented an endoscope kit with the serial number filed off and which allegedly did not record the procedure," warns Lichtmann.
July 2019, in full trial for the death of the journalist.
Photo: Luciano Thieberger
And he adds: "This makes it impossible to know where the equipment comes from, if it complied with the relevant controls, we don't even know if it is the one that was actually used during the procedure. On the other hand, it is strange that it has not recorded when one usually leave this type of studies with the DVD in hand”.
He assures that the instrumentalist was the
only witness to what happened
who was not directly involved, but that she did not help to clarify what happened.
“When they summoned her two weeks after the episode, she said that she did not remember anything, and she repeated the same thing during the oral trial for manslaughter.
For this reason, we request that it be investigated whether she gave false testimony, ”says the lawyer, about the crime that has a penalty of up to four years in prison.
“Martingano and Frías asked for a probation to avoid trial.
The Oral Criminal and Correctional Court No. 26 of the Capital rejected the request, as did Cassation and the Court.
So the next step is to define the date of the oral trial”, says Lichtmann, who explains that certain measures of proof that are being worked on are pending and that they hope they will soon confirm the start of the trial.
"Acknowledging the cover-up is also part of having justice for Débora," closes the lawyer.
PS
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