Palermo: Dentist and dental technician freed after demanding money for denture repairs

Last Updated: October 26, 2023

The judges of the Palermo Review Court have released two healthcare professionals, a dental technician named Sebastiano Lanza and a dentist named Giuseppe Guiglia, who work for the Palermo Health Agency (Asp). They were both implicated in an investigation for extortion, accused of demanding 100 euros from an elderly woman for denture repairs. They were previously under house arrest, but this measure has now been revoked, along with the suspension of their public service duties. The healthcare professionals are being represented by lawyers Giuseppe Amato and Antonella Bisconti, and the court is currently awaiting the reasoning behind this decision. The trial for another healthcare worker, nurse Massimo Vito Salvatore Cumella, also from Asp Palermo, who is accused of the same charge, has not yet taken place. The three individuals allegedly abused their roles as public servants by demanding payment for a medical service that should have been provided free of charge. The investigation was initiated following a complaint from the elderly patient, and the police have since recovered the banknotes that she had been forced to pay for a service already covered by the National Health Service.