Marano – Threats, insults, and beatings. The motive? A disagreement over treatment. A patient who attacked his family doctor in his office in Marano, in the province of Naples, after the doctor refused to prescribe the medications he requested, has been tried and convicted in a summary trial.
The episode, which occurred last spring, stemmed from a simple visit for tracheitis. At the end of the consultation, the doctor—operating "with good conscience," as his colleagues later emphasized—deemed it more appropriate to prescribe a "Band C" pharmaceutical specialty, paid for by the patient, rather than the medication requested by the patient.
The man's reaction was violent, with insults, threats and a physical assault against the professional, who then filed a complaint.
In recent days, the Court of Naples North issued its first-instance sentence. The judge, recognizing mitigating circumstances and considering the summary trial procedure, sentenced the defendant to one year and two months in prison.
The man is required to perform 30 hours of unpaid community service for the benefit of the community.It might interest you
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The sentence was conditionally suspended, but the measure also includes the payment of court costs and the obligation to perform 30 hours of unpaid community service for the benefit of the community.
The ruling follows a crackdown initiated by the government with a decree last year, which increased penalties for crimes involving violence and threats against healthcare workers. The law, which also provides for deferred arrest for crimes caught on camera, amended the penal code, increasing prison sentences from one to five years and fines of up to €10.000 for these crimes.
The doctors' reaction: "Satisfaction but bitterness."
The Italian Federation of General Practitioners (FIMMG) in Naples welcomed the measure, while expressing disappointment at an episode that undermines the doctor-patient relationship of trust.
"We welcome the justice system's swift and effective response in this case," commented Luigi Sparano, provincial secretary of the Naples FIMMG. "However, we cannot forget that every episode of violence against a doctor represents a defeat for the entire healthcare system and for society. Behind every white coat is a person working for the good of the citizens."
According to doctors, the organizational challenges of the National Health Service, such as waiting lists and inconveniences, cannot be allowed to affect the individual relationship with the patient.
"The trusting relationship between doctor and patient is the very foundation of family medicine," Sparano concluded. "Without mutual respect, listening, and shared responsibility, no treatment plan can truly work. It is on this pact, which must be preserved and defended, that the health of a community is built."
Marano's conviction thus becomes a legal warning and a symbol of the need to rebuild a therapeutic alliance, where the doctor's competence and the person's dignity always and in any case take precedence over any violent claims.
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