The journalist Andrea Purgatori was ill with lung cancer. But according to the family in the three Roman clinics where he was hospitalized following the diagnosis he was not treated properly. In particular, there is a suspicion that he was being treated for a brain tumor instead of a lung one. “They gave him radiotherapy to the brain instead of the lungs,” they accuse, assisted by lawyers Alessandro and Michele Gentiloni Silveri and Gianfilippo Cau. The family complaint about wrong diagnosis and treatment mentions the names of the structures and all those of the doctors who assisted him until his death. The manslaughter investigation is in the hands of the assistant prosecutor Sergio Colaiocco and the prosecutor Giorgio Orano. Who will order the autopsy and analyze the medical records brought to the prosecutor’s office by the family members.
“Ensure the correctness of doctors”
The investigators will also seize Purgatori’s medical records at the Umberto I polyclinic, where he died. The investigative acts, he explains today The print, will serve to “ascertain the correctness of the diagnosis”. Who point the finger at a “Roman clinical note” where the diagnosis was reported. The family members also ask “the consequent need for the heavy therapies prescribed to him. And if, due to the same possible diagnostic errors, the treatments actually necessary have been omitted. The newspaper explains that the Nas carabinieri have a very detailed complaint in hand. The hypothesis – to be verified – is that the doctors have incredibly wrong treatments against the journalist. The journalist’s funeral will therefore take place after the autopsy examination. Probably next week.
Lung cancer: what is it?
Lung cancer it develops from the cells that make up the bronchi, bronchioles and alveoli. It is capable of forming a mass capable of obstructing the flow of air. But it can also cause pulmonary or bronchial hemorrhages. There is not just one type of lung cancer. Metastases can affect other organs. Those with lung cancer accounted for 15% of all cancer diagnoses in men and 6% in women. The most important risk factor is cigarette smoking. Smokers are 14 times more likely to get sick than non-smokers. There are two types: small cell lung cancer (also called microcytoma, a category which accounts for 10-15 percent of cases) and non-small cell lung cancer (the remaining 85 percent of cases).
What is radiotherapy used for?
The Airc explains that radiotherapy is used alone or in combination with chemotherapy in cases where it is not possible to proceed with surgery, due to the characteristics of the tumor or the state of health of the patients. In microcarcinoma it is used together with chemotherapy. Standard therapy consists of the administration of cisplatin (or carboplatin) and etoposide. The use in the brain mentioned in the statement of the Purgatori family is carried out with the aim of reducing the risk of metastases. Or for palliative purposes, i.e. to control symptoms in more advanced cases. Surgery is indicated only in selected cases and is performed very rarely.