After almost half a century, a historic ruling has been made in the case of a man from Imperia who died from a serious liver disease contracted in 1975, after receiving transfusions of infected blood in a hospital in the province of Savona.
The man's heirs - his wife and three daughters - obtained compensation of 310 thousand euros, thanks to a settlement agreement concluded at the end of 2024 between the Ministry of Health and the victim's family. The case, represented by the lawyer Domenico Carotenuto and the medical examiner Nicola Maria Giorgio, marks an important precedent for medical malpractice lawsuits and for cases related to past errors. "This transaction demonstrates that obtaining justice is possible, even after many years, if one relies on specialists capable of supporting the families of the victims" commented lawyer Carotenuto.
The case dates back to 1975, when the man was admitted for surgery and given blood transfusions. However, due to inadequate safety protocols at the time, the bags were contaminated, causing the patient to suffer from a degenerative liver disease that would last until his death in 2019.
The era of infected blood transfusions, which between the 70s and 90s caused thousands of victims in Italy and abroad, remains one of the most serious health scandals in modern history. The control protocols, rigorous today, were insufficient at the time, leading to a chain of infections that indelibly marked the lives of many people.
After two years of trial at the Court of GenoVa, the victim's heirs accepted a conciliation proposal. The agreement, based on the tables of the Court of Milan updated to 2022, allowed to quickly close the dispute, avoiding further judicial delays.
The legal team's ability to demonstrate the causal link between the 1975 transfusions and the degenerative liver disease developed by the victim was crucial in this process. The accurate expert report of the medical examiner Nicola Maria Giorgio played a key role in reconstructing the events and providing the evidence necessary to obtain compensation. «A correct medical-legal analysis can make the difference in recognizing the rights of victims of medical errors» Prof. Giorgio declared, adding that "Our priority is to ensure that family members find answers and support in asserting their rights."
Article published on 24 January 2025 - 16:28
