First assisted suicide with an eye-activated device made by the CNR
This is how 'Libera' died in Tuscany, a multiple sclerosis sufferer who had been waiting two years for a drug that could be self-administered
After two years of waiting Libera, the 55-year-old Tuscan suffering from multiple sclerosis, died today at her home. The assisted suicide was made possible thanks to the self-administration of a lethal drug through an eye-controlled device, specially designed by the National Research Council to enable the intravenous infusion of the drug to be triggered at the end of life.
Cnr's ocular pointer
An eye pointing system interfaced with an infusion pump, which enabled 'Libera' to independently activate the intravenous infusion of the drug, overcoming the obstacle of spastic tetraparesis in her body that prevented her from any movement, including that necessary to press the activation button of the machinery usually used for this procedure.
Libera's message
Libera entrusted its message to the Luca Coscioni Association 'I hope, with all my heart, that no one will have to wait two years any longer to be able to exercise a right that already belongs to them. No one should be forced to fight so long for what should be guaranteed. My fight was hard, but I want to believe that it was not in vain. If it serves to open up even one road, to shorten even one wait, then it will have been worthwhile. I am deeply grateful to the Luca Coscioni Association, which has given me a voice and tools to see this right recognised. And I thank, with sincere gratitude, my doctor, Paolo Malacarne. This is not just my story. It is a request for dignity, which I hope one day will no longer have to be conquered, but simply respected'.
'Libera' had obtained the go-ahead from the Toscana Nord Ovest health authority for access to the medical aid to voluntary death procedure in July 2024. A consent made possible by the Constitutional Court ruling (no. 242/2019) that, after the Cappato case, dictated the conditions and the path.
The reactions
Affirming the need to invest in resources for those who are ill, the Secretary General of the Italian Bishops' Conference, Monsignor Giuseppe Baturi "I do not comment on the case of the individual person because death is a mystery that is so great that it must be respected in silence. We as a society and as the Church must help people live with dignity and hope because every moment of life is worth living". This was said by the secretary general of the Italian Bishops' Conference, Monsignor Giuseppe Baturi, commenting on the Libera assisted suicide case. For the secretary of the Italian Bishops' Conference, "this means investing resources in accompanying people who are ill and their families. Faced with unbearable suffering, do I just take note of it or do I try to do something about it?"
