“She was between life and death”: a radiologist scans his cat in his hospital, he is prosecuted

Il serait intervenu après la fin des examens programmés. Unsplash – illustration – Judy Beth Morris

After the veterinarian's diagnosis, Dr. Gianluca Fanelli, believing that his cat was in danger of dying, chose to have him undergo a scan before giving him treatment himself.

Ready to do anything to save his cat, an Italian radiologist finds himself indicted. Gianluca Fanelli, head of the radiology unit at the Umberto Parini hospital in Aosta, used a scanner at the facility to examine his cat, which was seriously injured after falling six floors, before giving her life-saving treatment, several Italian media outlets reported, including the website of the Rai.

“She was between life and death”, he testifies. “I knew I could only save her by intervening quickly.” After a veterinarian diagnosed fractures and a “suspected pneumothorax”, the radiologist took charge of the operation.

“I performed a few seconds of X-ray examination using one of the three scanners and, having thus assessed the severity of the pneumothorax conditions, I performed the drainage, allowing her to breathe immediately.”

What is he accused of ?

But this decision has sparked an internal investigation, according to the Italian media outlet. The case has been referred to Aosta prosecutors, who are considering prosecution for wasting public money and depriving patients of medical services.

Faced with the accusations, Gianluca Fanelli defends himself, explaining that he intervened after the scheduled tests had ended, when the scanners were no longer in service and after making sure that no patients were waiting.

“If I had not done everything I could […] and my cat had died, I would never have been able to forgive myself”, he wrote in a letter. “I did my duty. Without me, my Athena would be dead”, he adds, saying he is ready to compensate any financial loss to the hospital.