Anna, who died by assisted suicide: the first Italian supported by the healthcare system

A 55-year-old woman from Trieste suffering from secondary progressive multiple sclerosis is the first Italian woman to resort to assisted suicide supported by the National Health System , which provided her with the lethal drug.

The Luca Coscioni association reports this: Anna (fictitious name), who had asked to resort to assisted suicide, died last November 28th at her home following self-administration of the lethal drug .

The woman, explains the association, "is the first Italian to have completed the procedure envisaged by the Consulta with the Cappato ruling , with the direct assistance of the National Health Service".

Following the order of the Court of Trieste, the association explains in a note, «the lethal drug and the equipment were provided by the NHS and a doctor identified by the health company, on a voluntary basis, took steps to support the action requested within the scope and within the limits established by the precautionary order pronounced by the Court of Trieste on 4 July, and therefore without intervening directly in the administration of the drug, an action which remained the exclusive responsibility of the woman ".

The 55-year-old, explains Filomena Gallo, lawyer and secretary of the Luca Coscioni association, «is the first sick person who has seen recognition, by the doctors in charge of carrying out checks on the conditions, that continuous assistance to the person is vital assistance , as well as the non-exclusive mechanical dependence guaranteed through the use of ventilatory support during the hours of night sleep".

The woman from Trieste, the association recalls, had turned to civil and criminal justice to obtain the application of the Cappato sentence . «He had personally wanted - underlines Gallo - to file the complaint with the Carabinieri against the Julian Isontina University Health Authority and participate in the first civil hearing in the Court in Trieste, which then issued an order condemning Asugi to apply the ruling of the Council. The health company implemented the judge's decision and, given that all the conditions indicated by the Constitutional Court with ruling 242/19 were met, took charge of the entire process. He therefore made the drug, equipment and healthcare personnel available on a voluntary basis."

(Unioneonline/L)