An investigation opened and closed in Cagliari, another ordered by prosecutors in Sassari and brought before the courts. The family of Mattia Cabras, from Arzachena, wants justice and has been fighting in the courts since 2021 for answers regarding what happened on October 31, 2021.
Mattia, who, according to Sassari prosecutor Paolo Piras and the plaintiff's lawyer Daniela Ungaro, was given two months to live, failed to undergo urgent "abdominal exploration" for the subsequent "removal of an obstruction" and died of peritonitis (hypovolemic shock). The accused is a specialist from the Department of Pediatric Surgery at the AOU Sassari. The charge of alleged medical malpractice is based on a report signed by Salvatore Lorenzoni (director of the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Sassari) and Professor Girolamo Mattioli (head of Pediatric Surgery at the Gaslini Hospital in Genoa).
During the last hearing, before the judges of the Sassari Court, elements emerged that deeply shocked little Mattia's parents. Essentially, the accused specialist, when questioned in court, explained that he found himself faced with a case that required a procedure he had never performed.
At that moment, the specialist was alone in the department because one of his colleagues was unavailable, another was exempt, and the head physician was on vacation. It was then decided (the surgeon under investigation stated, with a collegial decision) to transfer the little patient to Cagliari (according to prosecutor Piras, with a culpable and fatal delay). It also emerged that little Mattia was administered a drug by another surgeon (not a pediatrician) in a dose higher than that prescribed for newborns.
The specialist under investigation, represented by lawyers Danilo Mattana and Nicola Satta, maintains that he proceeded correctly given his expertise and the tools available. The witnesses cited by the defense will be heard at the next hearing.
