Surgeon Porrello acquitted; Palermo did not provide false information
The single judge of the fifth section of the Palermo court, Vincenza Gagliardotto, acquitted the 60-year-old Agrigento surgeon Calogero Porrello, currently head of the thoracic surgery department at the Noto-Pasqualino clinic, because “the fact does not constitute a crime.” Porrello had been accused of providing false information to the defendant by Professor Gaspare Gulotta, 72, former head of Thoracic Surgery at the Policlinico in Palermo, who had been placed under house arrest in the Carabinieri investigation into alleged rigged competitions. The professor was released after a few months.
The matter is related to the death of Rosaria Venutelli, 70, who died on December 12, 2017, at the Policlinico in Palermo due to complications from a kidney colic. Four doctors, including Gaspare Gulotta, are being prosecuted for this incident. In the course of the investigation, Porrello, who was working at the Policlinico at the time, was called by the Venutelli family’s lawyer to provide statements regarding the death in question.
During the trial, Porrello’s lawyer Giovanni Castronovo explained that the defense of the Agrigento doctor “demonstrated that the accusation stemmed from Gulotta’s resentment towards Porrello, as the latter, with his statements, revealed a series of facts that were later confirmed by the Carabinieri, leading to Gulotta’s arrest.” Furthermore, during the trial, the defense showed “that the general surgery and thoracic surgery departments were in fact a single department, so Porrello had the right and means to know about the clinical events of Mrs. Venutelli, as he also had a personal interest, given the friendship between the patient and the defendant’s ex-partner. Hence the court’s decision to acquit Porrello.”
Palermo, non diede false informazioni: assolto il chirurgo agrigentino Porrello
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