Naples, May 6 (LaPresse) – After five months of waiting, a 76-year-old woman from Veneto suffering from a neurodegenerative disease “has been denied medically assisted suicide despite meeting the criteria established by the Constitutional Court,” the Luca Coscioni Association reports. “Donatella” (a pseudonym), due to the continuous suffering caused by her illness, requested on September 6, 2024, that her local health authority assess whether she met the requirements laid out in the “Cappato-Dj Fabo” ruling, which permits legal access to medically assisted suicide in Italy. Only after a formal warning letter from her legal team in February did the health authority send the final report from the multidisciplinary medical commission. The report confirmed that “Donatella” is capable of making autonomous decisions and suffers from an irreversible disease causing intolerable pain, but is not dependent on life-sustaining treatment. However, as attorney Filomena Gallo—secretary general of the Coscioni Association and Donatella’s legal representative—stated, “She is totally dependent on her caregivers for every function: without their help, she could not take medications, eat, or drink, and would die in agony. The health authority itself acknowledges this total dependence in its report. Yet, it still denies access to assisted suicide, effectively ignoring Constitutional Court ruling 135/2024.” Donatella’s legal team has contested the denial, also providing medical support from Dr. Mario Riccio, anesthesiologist and physician to Piergiorgio Welby, arguing that the denial is based on an illegitimate interpretation of the legal criteria. The day after this opposition and formal warning were submitted, the health authority’s medical director urgently requested a reassessment from the ethics committee chair, rather than from the medical commission. The final outcome is now awaited.