The Local Italy

Coronavirus hospital in Naples evacuated after huge sinkhole opens up

Fri, 08 Jan 2021 10:24:03 +0100

Witnesses reported hearing a loud explosion at dawn as a large chasm appeared outside the Ponticelli Ospedale del Mare in eastern Naples.

Italy's Calabria region turns to war relief charity as third health commissioner quits

Wed, 18 Nov 2020 17:56:44 +0100

Faced with a dysfunctional health system and the resignations of three local leaders in quick succession, Italy's poorest region has turned to a charity more accustomed to working in warzones to help tackle the coronavirus crisis.

'We have to do it quickly': Italy aims to complete new southern hospital in under 400 days

Mon, 12 Oct 2020 13:33:38 +0200

Italy's Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Monday visited the construction site of a planned new hospital for the city of Taranto, which is set to be built far quicker than originally planned.

Italian woman makes stuffed olives while having brain surgery

Wed, 10 Jun 2020 13:20:09 +0200

A 60-year-old woman from the Italian region of Abruzzo prepared 90 olive all'ascolana – Ascoli-style stuffed olives - in less than an hour while having an operation to remove a brain tumour.

'How I ended up in hospital in Italy – without health insurance'

Wed, 18 Dec 2019 13:55:00 +0100

Having a medical emergency in Italy before you've got to grips with the healthcare system is many foreigners' nightmare. Mark Hinshaw, an American resident in Le Marche, explains what happened when he found himself in an Italian emergency room – without health insurance.

For the first time, Italians will be able to get abortion pills in clinics

Wed, 05 Apr 2017 13:16:05 +0200

Women in Italy will soon be able to terminate pregnancies without going to hospital, as Lazio - the central region including Rome - becomes the first in Italy to make abortion pills available at family planning clinics.

Italian hospital chief suspended after photos show patients treated on the floor

Tue, 10 Jan 2017 10:27:21 +0100

Three staff at a Naples hospital, including its director, have been suspended after widespread criticism over photos showing patients being treated while lying on the floor.

Italy's 'Angel of Death' anaesthetist held over suspicious deaths

Wed, 30 Nov 2016 11:54:05 +0100

Police on Tuesday arrested two Lombardy hospital workers, a nurse and an anaesthetist who called himself the "Angel of Death", suspected of causing the deaths of at least five patients through a lethal cocktail of drugs.

Italian doctors remove wrong kidney from sick man

Mon, 26 Sep 2016 14:37:57 +0200

After a successful operation to remove his kidney, doctors wondered why the patient was showing no signs of recovery.

Italians queue to donate blood for train crash victims

Wed, 13 Jul 2016 12:23:42 +0200

As Italy assesses the damage of Tuesday's train crash in Puglia which left at least 27 dead and dozens injured, local residents have been praised for their outpouring of support and solidarity.

One-year-old vegan weighing 5kg hospitalized in Milan

Fri, 08 Jul 2016 17:23:54 +0200

A one-year-old boy in Milan, allegedly being raised on a strict vegan diet, has been taken away from his parents after being hospitalized weighing just five kilograms.

Berlusconi plots Forza Italia relaunch from hospital bed

Thu, 23 Jun 2016 15:46:08 +0200

Former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is planning to relaunch his political party, Forza Italia, when he comes out of hospital on July 5th, according to reports in the Italian media.

Mafia boss's €3.5m hospital stay funded by Italian taxes

Fri, 01 Apr 2016 17:53:06 +0200

A notorious mafia boss, sentenced to life imprisonment for three murders, has instead been serving his time in a private hospital room - at a cost of €700 per day to the Italian taxpayer.

Rats and cockroaches roam Italian capital’s hospitals

Mon, 21 Mar 2016 17:34:07 +0100

Some hospitals in Rome are undertaking rodent control at least once a month to rid their premises of rats and cockroaches.

Eritrean migrant dies in Italy hospital escape bid

Sat, 19 Dec 2015 22:15:38 +0100

An Eritrean man who survived a perilous journey across the Mediterranean by boat to Italy has died after falling from a hospital window in a night-time escape bid, Italian media reported on Saturday.

Schizophrenic man dies after 'invasive' treatment

Fri, 14 Aug 2015 11:43:32 +0200

An investigation has been launched into the death of a schizonphrenic man in the northern Italian city of Turin while he was being transported to hospital for mandatory medical treatment.

Italian hospital goes 58 years without patients

Fri, 24 Jul 2015 10:14:32 +0200

Work on the San Bartolomeo in Galdo hospital, Campania, began in 1957, but the facility is yet to treat a single patient.

Medics 'pumped patient with air instead of blood'

Fri, 26 Jun 2015 16:51:00 +0200

A patient at a hospital in Genoa, north-west Italy, died after hospital staff allegedly pumped air into her veins instead of blood, Italian media has reported.

Long bus wait prompts hospital car theft

Fri, 29 May 2015 13:59:06 +0200

A pair of thieves who stole a car from outside the emergency room of a Sicilian hospital did so because they were tired of waiting for the bus, Italian media reported on Friday.

Italian woman gives birth ten days after abortion

Mon, 13 Apr 2015 12:59:09 +0200

A woman is taking her gynecologist to court after having to give birth to her dead fetus ten days after she thought she had gone through a successful abortion.