Living will: Italy now has an end-of-life law
Rights — di Simone Santi
The patient can refuse aggressive life-sustaining treatment thanks to the new law on the living will, born out of the struggles of Welby, Englaro and Dj Fabo.
Living will: Italy now has an end-of-life law
The patient can refuse aggressive life-sustaining treatment thanks to the new law on the living will, born out of the struggles of Welby, Englaro and Dj Fabo.
From today, finally, Italy has an end-of-life law. A law on the living will that does not provide for the legalisation of euthanasia, but which nonetheless contains a development that makes this a historic day: from now on, no medical treatment may be started, or continued, without the free and informed consent of the person concerned. Consent that can be given through advance treatment directives (Dat), so that it can be enforced even in cases where the person finds themselves in a condition that makes self-determination impossible. A law that puts an end to aggressive life-sustaining treatment, which until now the patient could not refuse, even in the case of a terminal and irreversible illness.
#DAT #ConsensoInformato. Aula approva in via definitiva ddl #BioTestamento con 180 voti favorevoli, 71 contrari e 6 astenuti senato.it/3818?seduta_as…
In the name of Welby, Eluana and Dj Fabo
The need for a living will law, which became definitive today, had returned to the fore with great urgency following the case of Dj Fabo, left tetraplegic after a car accident, who had expressed the wish to put an end to his suffering: his decision to travel to Switzerland to undergo euthanasia had the merit of turning the spotlight back on the issue, as did the assistance offered to him by Marco Cappato, treasurer of the associazione Luca Coscioni, who is currently on trial precisely because of this affair. A trial, explains the association's secretary Filomena Gallo, "that is a further step in attempting to dismantle provisions that prevent the exercise of personal freedom of choice on end-of-life matters, condemning terminally ill patients to needless and severe suffering, or to private or clandestine suicide."
But over the years there had been many cases that had brought euthanasia and end-of-life issues into public debate: from that of Piergiorgio Welby, who suffered from muscular dystrophy and died in 2006 after requesting that the machine keeping him breathing be switched off, to that of Eluana Englaro, who died in 2009 after 17 years in a coma, from dehydration following the withdrawal of artificial nutrition.
With the living will, an end to aggressive life-sustaining treatment
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The living will law is born out of these examples: euthanasia is not provided for, but the patient will be required to explicitly approve or refuse treatments, including artificial nutrition and hydration: one of the fundamental points recognised by the measure, and one that generated fierce debate in parliament, is precisely that the withdrawal of artificial feeding (for example via drip) is not recognised as euthanasia: a patient in a terminal state may request it, or leave it written in their Dat, together with sedation to prevent final suffering. The law "promotes and enhances the relationship of care and trust between patient and doctor, whose founding act is informed consent, and in the care relationship the patient's family members are also involved, if the patient so wishes." Advance directives may be issued and revoked at any time by all adults, whilst for minors consent is expressed by parents, and they are binding on the doctor: unlike in other fields, it will not be possible to invoke conscientious objection.