24 people have received euthanasia in Catalonia since June

A total of 53 persons have requested euthanasia in Catalonia, half of the requests (28) have already been approved and 24 have already received the assistance for a dignified death by healthcare professionals, among whom only 90 have accepted the conscientious objection. The request for help to die must be reviewed by two doctors and a Guarantee Commission and assisted suicide can occur in a medical center or at the patient’s home.

The Secretary General of the Department of Health, Meritxell Masó; the general director of Health Management and Regulation, Azucena Carranzo; and the president of the Catalan Guarantee and Evaluation Commission, Albert Tuca, explained at a press conference the deployment of the state euthanasia law, which entered into force on June 25.

“The law is a guarantee and allows the patient to revoke his request if he changes his mind at any time,” Massó stressed.

Regarding the three denied, Carranzo explained that “they did not conform to the law”, but due to privacy concerns, he has not been able to provide further details.

In denied cases, the Guarantee and Evaluation Commission issues a report stating the reasons, but if the patient’s situation changes and it considers it appropriate, “you can submit a new request,” Tuca explained.

To access an assisted death, the law establishes that the patient must be of legal age and have a serious and irreversible disease or an incapacitating suffering that affects autonomy or that is constant and intolerable.

Of the 53 applications, the majority are for neurodegenerative (23) and oncological (14) diseases.

41 days on average

In Catalonia, the process lasts an average of 41 days and consists of various phases: the patient’s request (which must be presented twice), a favorable report from the responsible doctor, a verification by a second physician, confirmation from the Office of Provision of the Help to Die (PRAM) and the final evaluation of the Guarantee and Evaluation Commission, which issues an opinion before which an appeal can be presented if the applicant does not agree.

The majority of requests -34 of the 53- reach primary care and the rest (19) are requested in hospitals.

In the vast majority of cases processed in CAPs, patients are assisted until the end of life at home, accompanied by health professionals.

Of all the personnel of the Catalan health system, only 90 professionals (77 for medicine, 12 for nursing and 1 for pharmacy) they are conscientious objectors, without this having prevented any euthanasia process from being carried out.

Territorial equity

Salut also has no evidence that any center has denied a request for a dignified death and ensures that the service is guaranteed with territorial equity, because there are personnel to perform it in all parts of Catalonia.

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The requests are concentrated in the province of Barcelona, the most populated, with 39 requests, followed by Girona (11), Tarragona (3) and Lleida (none, at the moment).

Salut also offers voluntary training and to date 11,375 health professionals have already taken part in this initiative.

Reference-www.elperiodico.com

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