The Marche regional health
authority's medical commission on Wednesday gave the green light
to a drug to be given to a 44-year-old tetraplegic man called
Antonio to end his life via assisted suicide.
The man has been fighting for the right to end his life since he
lost the use of his limbs in a car crash in 2014.
He is being helped by the right-to-die Luca Coscioni
Association.
On August 3, the association's lead campaigner Marco
Cappato reported himself to Carabinieri police in Milan after
accompanying a terminally ill cancer patient to a clinic in
Switzerland to commit assisted suicide.
The case of the woman, a 69-year-old named Elena, had moved the
nation after she recorded a video message explaining her
decision before she died.
"I would have preferred to end my life in my own bed," she said.
Cappato risks a jail term of up to 12 years for assisting
suicide.
The activist, who has also helped other people in similar
situations, berated Italy's politicians for failing to pass
legislation on end-of-life issues.
"There has been no response from the parliament, from the
political world, from the leaders of the big parties," he said.
"The people's-initiative bill that we presented nine years ago
has not been discussed, not even for a minute, during the last
two parliamentary terms.
"We have come to this.
"When faced with Elena's request, we could have looked the other
way or give her the help that she sought, in full view of
everyone and taking total responsibility".
Cappato helped set a legal precedent when he helped DJ
Fabo, a tetraplegic Roman disk jockey, commit suicide in a Swiss
clinic in 2017.
The Constitutional Court subsequently cleared Cappato in
relation to this case, saying assisted suicide could be
legitimate in some cases if the person wanting to die was in
intolerable suffering.
The court also called on parliament to pass legislation dealing
with end-of-life issues, something that it has failed to do so
far.
In June Antonio became the first person to legally commit
assisted suicide in Italy on the basis of the Constitutional
Court ruling.
Elena was not eligible to commit assisted suicide in Italy due
to the specifics of her case.
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