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Ex-mayors probed over La Scala asbestos deaths

Four ex-mayors of Milan are been probed over seven asbestos-related deaths connected to the prestigious Teatro alla Scala opera house.

Published: 6 November 2015 16:44 CET
Ex-mayors probed over La Scala asbestos deaths
The probe relates to asbestos-related deaths at Teatro alla Scala. Photo: O2ma/Flickr

Giampiero Borghini, Marco Formentini, Paolo Pilleteri and Carlo Tognoli are being investigated for manslaughter and grievous bodily harm, Ansa reported, citing sources.

The period over which the mayors were in office spans between 1976 and 1997.

Carlo Fontana, the former superintendent of Teatro alla Scala, which was built in 1778, is also being investigated. Fontana was in the role from 1990 to 2015.

The famous opera house, which has hosted some of the greatest names in Italian opera, including Bellini, Rossini and Verdi, underwent a major renovation between 2002 and 2004.

In 2009 a seating area in an upper gallery was closed off after asbestos was found in the ceiling.

The building was severely damaged by bombing during the Second World War in 1943. It was rebuilt and reopened in 1946.

The latest asbestos probe comes after 11 former managers at the Italian tyre manufacturer, Pirelli, were convicted of manslaughter in July over the asbestos-related deaths of 24 workers.

The workers contracted tumours linked to asbestos exposure while working at the company’s factories during the 1970s and 80s.

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HEALTH

When can doctors in Denmark refuse to continue treating patients?

General Practitioners in Denmark have the right to break off a patient-doctor relationship in specific circumstances.

Published: 1 August 2024 16:35 CEST
When can doctors in Denmark refuse to continue treating patients?

Although doctors in Denmark have the right to decide not to continue treating a patient – requiring them to find a new GP – the circumstances in which this can happen are limited, and must be approved by health authorities.

The frequency in which the circumstances arise is also low. A doctor decided to no longer receive a patient on 375 occasions in 2016, according to the medical professionals’ journal Ugeskrift for Læger. The following year, newspaper Jyllands-Posten reported the figure at 458.

There are two main categories of circumstances in which a doctor can choose to take this step. The first is in instances of violent or threatening behaviour from the patient towards the doctor. 

The second (and most common) is when the doctor considers the relationship to have deteriorated to the extent that confidence has broken down, according to Ugeskrift for Læger.

It should be noted that patients are not bound by any restrictions in this regard, and can decide to change their GP without having to give any justification.

A patient also has the right to appeal against a doctor’s decision to ask them to find a new GP. This is done by appealing to the local health authority, called a Region in the Danish health system.

In such cases, a board at the regional health authority will assess the claim and if it finds in favour of the patient may order the doctor to attempt to repair the relationship.

Doctors cannot end a relationship with a patient purely because a patient has made a complaint about them to health authorities. This is because patients should have the option of making complaints without fear of consequences for their future treatment. 

However, if this is accompanied by the conclusion on the doctor’s part that there is no longer confidence in them on the part of the patient, they can remove the patient from their list.

The right to no longer see patients in the circumstances detailed above is provided by doctors’ collective bargaining agreements, the working conditions agreed on between trade unions and employer confederations under the Danish labour market system.

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