A marathon hearing was held today before the Second Criminal Section of the Court of Santa Maria Capua Vetere (presided by Dr. Sergio Enea) in the trial against bariatric surgeon Dr. Stefano Cristiano. The charges against him are extremely serious: manslaughter, negligent assault, and forgery.
The protagonists of two dramatic cases, now at the center of the investigation, filed before the panel to answer the pressing questions of the Public Prosecutor, Dr. Valentina Santoro.
Angela's Odyssey: "Miraculously Saved"
The testimony of Angela Iannotta, the young mother from the city of Foro, dominated the proceedings for hours. Assisted by her lawyers, Raffaele and Gaetano Crisileo, the woman recounted her "dramatic experience" in a broken voice.
Pressed by cross-questioning from the prosecution, the defense (attorneys Massimo Damiani and Michela Andresano), and the legal representative of the Villa del Sole clinic, cited as the civilly liable party (attorney Ferdinando Trasacco), Angela reconstructed her odyssey.
An ordeal that began with a first gastric bypass surgery in March 2021 at the Villa Letizia Clinic in L'Aquila. Due to worsening conditions, the woman turned to Dr. Cristiano, who performed a second procedure in January 2022, this time at the Villa del Sole Clinic in Caserta.
It was the beginning of the end. After about twenty days of hospitalization in the Caserta facility, the conditions of Angela They fell. It was February 3, 2022. The woman was rushed, in the middle of the night, to the hospital in Caserta. The diagnosis was horrific: severe necrosis of several internal organs and a widespread septicemia.
After undergoing complex emergency surgery, Angela ended up in the intensive care unit. Further operations followed to try to stem the necrosis devouring her vital organs. Salvation came only with her transfer to the Second Polyclinic of Naples, where the team led by Professor Francesco Corcione, President Emeritus of the Italian Society of Surgery, managed, with a series of reconstructive surgeries, to literally save her from death.
It might interest you
Castel Volturno: Egyptian minor beaten and threatened with a gun over a necklace
Arsenal hidden in a parked car: arms trafficking discovered between Naples and the Domitian coast
Santa Maria Capua Vetere: Drugs for inmates hidden in vacuum-packed meat
Caserta, massive €39 million facade bonus scam: seizures and 28 suspects
The death of Francesco Di Vilio
Soon after, it was the turn of Salvatore Di VilioThe man testified on behalf of his father, Francesco Di Vilio, a 69-year-old from Santa Maria Capua Vetere, who died on January 1 of the same year at Cardarelli Hospital in Naples.
Francesco's story, as emerged in court, is also linked to Dr. Cristiano and the Villa del Sole Clinic. The man, his son explained, underwent three bariatric surgery operations by the accused doctor, all performed at Villa del Sole and within a few days of each other.
After a lengthy hospital stay, his condition steadily worsened. Emergency transfer to Cardarelli Hospital, the 69-year-old underwent further, necessary surgery, which, however, was not enough to save him. The cause of death, again, was attributed to necrosis of vital organs and severe sepsis.
It was Salvatore Di Vilio himself who filed a complaint with the judiciary, requesting the exhumation of his father's body and the seizure of his medical records to shed light on the tragedy.
The surgeon's precedent
A specific legal precedent hangs over the defendant's head like a shadow. For the record, Dr. Cristiano has already been sentenced to two years in prison by the Nola Court in the first instance, again for manslaughter, following the death of young Raffaele Arcella from Caivano. As emerged in that trial, Arcella also died after undergoing gastric bypass surgery, which was performed at the Trusso Clinic in Ottaviano.
Leave a comment