In a few hours or, at most, a few days, the Constitutional Court will predictably reject the appeal that the ultra Vox group filed against the euthanasia law, approved in March 2021 and which entered into force on June 25 of that year. There are no official data on how many have been practiced so far, due to the delay that is occurring in the communication of the data by the communities and collection, by the Ministry of Health.
In the first year of application of this rule, some 180 had been carried out, according to the minister of the branch, Carolina Darias, having carried out 76 in the first six months (from June to December 2021). According to the calculations of the Right to Die with Dignity Association, some 300 could have been carried out this year and nine months into force. And that, pulling low because the implementation of this rule was a slow process for communities and hospitals.
This figure, given with all caution while waiting for Health to have collected all the data next June, could be higher based on the updated figures that Madrid does offer. Until mid-January, 43 euthanasias had been performed in this region, 37 more than in the first semester of its entry into force, which means multiplying the interventions by six.
In Catalonia, the available data continues to be that collected up to June 2022. In the first year of application of the law, 60 euthanasias had been carried out in Catalonia and another 18 had been approved by the guarantee and evaluation commission. Another 18 were under study.
Another of the data that reveals the increase in cases is provided by the National Transplant Organization (ONT). In the first year, of the nearly 180 euthanasias performed, 22 people donated their organs, making a total of 68 transplants possible. From June 2021 to March 17 of this year, 56 patients donated their organs (34 in the last nine months), which has allowed 153 transplants.
In total, in one year 137 applications had been received, of which eight had been denied and five revoked (the person withdrew the application). A total of 28 requests were unsuccessful as the patient died before euthanasia.
According to the report from the Ministry of Health (the only one at the moment), regarding the first six months of application of the law, 173 requests for euthanasia have been declared throughout the national territory, the majority from Catalonia (65) and Basque Country (34). At a great distance, regions such as Madrid (12), the Valencian Community (10) and the Balearic Islands (9). Of these requests, the services carried out were 75: Catalonia, 29; Basque Country, 15; Balearic Islands, 6; Madrid, 6; Valencian Community, 5; Canaries, 3; Galicia, 2; Navarre, 2; Murcia, 2; and with 1 benefit in Asturias, Aragon, Cantabria, Castilla-León and La Rioja.
What happened to the remaining applications? In 32 cases death occurred before completing the procedure (18.49%), 28 did not reach the Guarantee and Evaluation Committee (16.18%), 25 (14.45%) were denied, there were seven revocations and ( 4.04%) and six postponements (3.46%).
The age of the patients ranged from 29 to 97 years, with a mean age of 66.37 years for women and 67.32 years for men. And the pathologies that gave rise to this benefit, in 40 cases (53.33%) have been neurological diseases, followed by 22 (29.33%) oncological diseases and another four (5.33%) due to severe organic multiple pathologies, with three (4%) respiratory diseases.
The applications processed through procedure 5.1 (with legal capacity) were 72, while those processed through procedure 5.2 (with prior instructions) only three were made (with legal representative).
In 34 cases, assistance in dying was provided at the patient’s home, 30 in hospitals, 5 in social health centers (residences), and on 6 occasions it is not recorded. The average number of deaths before provision is 31 days, the most frequent cause being respiratory failure, palliative sedation and multiple organ failure.
