Applicants for euthanasia will be able to choose the day and to desist until the end

From the 25th, citizens of the Balearic Islands will now be able to request assistance from the Servei de Salut to die if they have an incurable illness that causes great physical or psychological pain and there are no therapeutic alternatives to improve their life expectancy.

A new benefit of which, logically, both the applicants and the health professionals involved will be able to withdraw at any time in a process guarantees the rights of the applicant and that can take between 40 and 50 days from the request to the administration of the lethal drug that will conclude the assistance.

Nacho García, director general of Benefits and Pharmacy of the Servei de Salut, and Yolanda Muñoz Alonso, a nurse who has been appointed president of the Comisión de Garantías y Evaluación which will have the final decision on all euthanasia applications received, explained to Diario de Mallorca, part of the group Prensa Ibérica, the same group to which Diario de Ibiza belongs, all the steps that will have to be taken before receiving approval.

This commission, formed in the Balearic Islands by 5 health workers (1 nurse and four doctors) and 4 lawyers with five years of experience who, García emphasizes, have been chosen based on their knowledge in the field of the terminal moments of life, it will be the one that has the last word to approve or reject the benefit. Each request will be resolved by a health worker and a lawyer, not by the entire commission, he said.

Key point

1. Of legal age, capable and a resident. It will be a necessary condition that they be a person of legal age, that they have Spanish nationality or legal residence in Spain or a registration certificate that proves a time of permanence in Spanish territory greater than twelve months, and that at the time of the request they are capable and aware .
2. The responsible doctor, must accompany until the end . The responsible doctor chosen by the applicant must accompany the patient until the end of the process.
3. Natural death and no cost  . Death by this means will be legally considered a natural death and there will be no cost for the new benefit.

For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.